If you look at the total number of applications, this has increased by almost 12 per cent compared to 2015.

“Overall, we have good reason to be pleased. We have an increased number of applicants:  Danish as well as international, our grade point averages are increasing, which means that the students we admit are increasingly qualified. And this is a trend that has developed over the course of several years,” says the Vice-dean for Education, Per Andersen.

Three succesful areas
According to Per Andersen, three areas are particularly succesful:

“Taking a look across all the degree programmes, there are certain aspects that I am particularly pleased with. Firstly, we have more full-degree students, that is more international full-time students. Secondly, the number of admissions has gone up significantly in Herning especially on the Economics and Business Administration degree programme. Thirdly, we now have full admission on the Public Policy degree programme, which started in 2014. It always takes time to get a degree programme up and running, but now we can see the results. The positive admission figures reflect that it is a high quality degree programme which is in demand - not just with employers, but also with students.

At BTECH in Herning, a lot of efforts have been made for some time to increase the admission figures. A lot has been done to upgrade the lecturers’ pedagogical competences and to increase the proportion of teaching done by researchers on the degree programmes. The academic regulations of each degree programme have been thoroughly examined, and efforts have been made to make the programmes more targeted. It’s now time to reap the benefits of these efforts, as the increase in the number of applicants offered enrolment is primarily found at BTECH. The degree programmes of Business Development Engineer (BDE) and Economics and Business Administration have both seen large increases in the number of student places, more specifically 29 and 18 places respectively which equals 46 and 47 per cent. There are, however, still vacant places.

“These three areas are those on which we have focused our efforts this year, and we are very pleased the efforts have paid off,” says Per Andersen.

Next focus area
The next focus area which is crucial for Aarhus BSS as well as for future students is to make sure that the right students are matched with the right degree programme. This is both in terms of the students’ interest in the field and their capabilities.  To ensure a good match between student and degree programme, the Vice-dean for Education plans to review the grade point averages, the use of the Quota 2 intake as well as the information on which the future students base their choice of degree programme.

 “It’s important that potential students are aware of the contents of the degree programme and of what it means to be a university student. We are all interested in making this clear to prevent the students from dropping out.” Per Andersen concludes.