Studies website in Chinese to attract students from China
Over the last two years, the number of students traveling from China to Sweden to study at a Swedish university or university college has increased by about 100 percent. So the Swedish Institute (SI) is now launching a website in Chinese aimed at Chinese students and others in China who are interested in knowing more about Swedish higher education. StudyinSweden.se/China is an expansion of StudyinSweden.se, which in 2008 had some 1.7 million visitors from across the world.
Photo: The website StudyinSweden.se, is now available in a Chinese version, under www.StudyinSweden.se/China (click on the image to enter the website). The image can be used free of charge.
“The idea is to have the website serve as an introduction to studies in Sweden from a Chinese perpective,” says Karl Peterson, project manager for StudyinSweden.se. “While having a good grasp of English is a prerequisite for studying in Sweden, we’ve seen a need to be seen in Chinese as well.”
The background of the project is that, since the 1980s, SI has been entrusted with the task of disseminating infomation abroad about Swedish higher education. Since the late 1990s, the number of Swedish “magister” degree programs – or Master’s programs – offered in English has multiplied. Today there are almost 600 Master’s programs in English at Swedish universities and university colleges. Students who travel on their own intiative – known as free-movers – have been defined as SI’s primary target group for information about studies in Sweden. This target group is located largely outside the EU/ EES and will most likely be paying tuition fees within the next few years.
“In China, few people look for information online in a language other than their own,” Peterson continues. “It’s also important to reach the generation of parents who don’t necessarily understand English but are often influential in the choice of study destination.”
“Sweden needs foreign students,” notes Olle Wästberg, SI’s director-general. “Both because they change and vitalize the university environment and because they help develop important Swedish networks in other countries. The Swedish Institute is now developing instruments, like the website SwedeninTouch.se, which will help ensure that people who have studied here maintain a lasting relation with Sweden.”
Facts about StudyinSweden.se:
As part of its brief to market Swedish higher education to foreign students, SI runs the website StudyinSweden.se. StudyinSweden.se includes information in English about Swedish higher education aimed at foreign students.