Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences

1 August 2011 Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (HiOA) was established as a result of a merger between Oslo University College and Akershus University College. With a student body of approximately 17,000 students and 1,850 employees, HiOA is Norway‘s largest state university college.

HiOA offers a unique range of professional programmes that qualify students for professions that will contribute to future welfare and value creation.

HiOA will create value for individuals and contribute to knowledge development in society as a whole. We will contribute to future welfare and value creation by educating practitioners with high levels of professional ability and high-impact skill sets, and facilitate lifelong learning by providing continuing and further education. We will develop relevant knowledge by researching problems within and between the professions and by developing new products and services. This will provide HiOA with good opportunity to influence welfare policy and to serve as an important contributor to policy making by decision-making bodies.

Requirements for new knowledge and new services are at the crossroads between the established disciplines and the professions. There is a need to educate well-qualified, professional practitioners with sound professional knowledge and cooperative and change management skills. Through dialogue and cooperation between research, education, society, business and industry, results and expertise are shared and solutions are created for a continuously changing world.

Close cooperation with the fields of practice will bring new knowledge and new practice into a world that is facing new challenges.

Read more about HiOA's vision and values in the strategic plan for the period 2013-2020.

The adopted objective for the new university college is to achieve university status and develop into one of the leading universities in the Nordic region with a professionally oriented profile.
Oslo and Akershus cover a region that is experiencing rapid population growth and, consequently, will experience a growing need for a qualified labour force in the years to come. There are major issues to be resolved in the areas of education, health, technology and the environment.

HiOA’s objective is to make a stronger contribution towards the development of this region.

Through a strong regional entrenchment, national ambitions, and an international orientation, HiOA is establishing itself as a modern, professionally and vocationally oriented educational institution in the greater metropolitan area. This entails an interaction with a multicultural and international society which enables our students and employees to develop the action competence necessary in multicultural and international working life.

A majority of the study programmes that we offer are professional programmes in which theoretical courses and supervised professional training are closely aligned.

HiOA provides education that qualifies students for employment in the health and social services, education, and public administration, media, design, arts, and for technical and business administrative positions in business and industry.

HiOA emphasises the combination of high academic standard and proximity to professional fields. The teaching is based on the latest advances in research, development and experience.

The programmes aim at developing students’ skills in theoretical analysis and reflection. Several of our programmes involve supervised professional training where students can try out their future professional roles. This combination of theory and practice is a distinguishing characteristic of professional study programmes, and adds to the challenge of studying at HiOA.

Research and development (R&D) is a necessary and vital part of the university college’s activities and should contribute towards developing a good and dynamic educational institution.

In its overarching research strategy HiOA highlights both interdisciplinary and regional cooperation. HiOA’s comparative advantage is that the institution performs research within the professions taught here. The university college creates value for society by developing knowledge that contributes to improved welfare. This research will give insights into the activities, frameworks, and conditions of sectors and occupational fields in a society that is continually changing.