Denmark’s university colleges are experiencing a decrease in applications for key welfare education programs, including pedagogy, nursing, teaching, and social work. Data from Danish University Colleges reveals a two percent overall drop compared to the previous year, affecting both quota 1 (grade-based) and quota 2 (holistic assessment) applicants.

While pedagogue and teacher education programs saw slight increases of one and four percent respectively, social worker and nursing programs experienced declines of two and eight percent respectively. Christina Egelund, the Minister for Higher Education and Science, expressed particular concern about the drop in nursing applicants.

Camilla Wang, chairwoman of Danish University Colleges, highlighted the long-term challenge of declining interest in these crucial welfare fields, attributing the trend to smaller youth education cohorts. She remains optimistic due to a political agreement allocating approximately two billion kroner to reform university college educations by 2032.

The reforms aim to improve the educational experience through measures like shortened programs (by three months), more weekly hours in smaller groups, and increased guidance and feedback for students. Wang emphasizes that reversing the declining application trend will be a “long, hard pull,” but believes the investments will benefit both students and society.

The drop in applications for the four major welfare educations began in 2020. Applicants can expect to hear about their admission status on July 28.