Presentation
Higher Education in Sweden
In Sweden there are 35 institutions of higher education run by the state through the Ministry of Education and Research, plus 12 semi-private institutions of higher education that are partly run by the state. There is also the University of Agricultural Sciences.
On the following address you will find an English language page with overall student information on studying in Sweden: www.studyin.sweden.se
The coordinator for students with disabilities
At all universities and institutions of higher education there is a contact person/coordinator, working with issues relating to educational support for students with disabilities. The coordinator also works with plans and strategies for the development of accessibility and equal opportunities, and is a source of knowledge and guidance for the university staff. To find the names and contact ways to the individual coordinators at the universities in Sweden, see the link above to the page "coordinators".
The organizational perspective
Each university and other higher education institution in Sweden is obliged to set aside the funds to cover extraordinary costs for educational support measures for students with disabilities. A large part of these costs is financed and distributed annually from a common national pool. In addition, various public authorities have specific responsibility for certain specific measures.
Thus TPB, The Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille, provides students at Swedish universities experiencing difficulties with reading (due to for example dyslexia, impaired sight or mobility) with course literature in different alternative formats, such as DAISY digital talking books or braille versions. See the address www.tpb.se
Exchange studies
The Swedish students are advised to make contact as soon as possible with the coordinator at the university they are applying to. This is also sound advice for foreign exchange students requiring educational support. Make contact as early as possible!
Each university and higher education institution offers educational support to students with disabilities but each decides what form that support is to take. There are frequently possibilities to receive various individual support measures, although their availability cannot be promised to all students in all study programmes. An exchange student interested in a specific Swedish university should therefore approach its coordinator in order to discuss practical solutions to the student’s individual conditions.
Agreements between universities concerning exchange studies abroad for Swedish and foreign students
Support and service to exchange students with disabilities is always ultimately the responsibility of the home university. The latter shall reimburse the foreign host university for the costs of educational support. The home university of an Erasmus student should therefore apply to its National Programme Office for additional funding to cover its extra costs for the exchange student.
The Discrimination Act
From the spring in 2002 and until new years 2008/09, an Equal Treatment of Students in Universities Act was in force in Sweden. Since the first of January 2009, a new Discrimination Act embraced and replaced this Equal treatment Act as well as other acts in the field of equality and and antidiscrimination. The purpose of the Discrimination Act is to combat discrimination and in other ways promote equal rights and opportunities regardless of sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation or age. For more information on the Act, see the website of the newly installed Equality Ombudsman: www.do.se
