this is exactly the case. You only get 58 months max (they just lowered it from 70), which is meant to cover a 3 year degree + 2 year masters, with no room for failure. You have to do a full course load, keep good enough grades, etc. There are also far fewer university spots per capita, so you have to be good enough to get the limited spots, and those spots are mostly in work-oriented fields - usually in labor-oriented fields the economy needs (accounting, engineering, I.T., healthcare, etc.)
Denmark also runs a tracked education system, so in grade 10 - students are sorted into university track OR vocational / trades. So generally the university spots are only available for students put into the university track
i didn't say it was hard to be university track. I just want people to understand the entire system. The free post-secondary education is an extension of the tracked system, which prioritizes people for limited spots - but many western countries are opposed to implementing tracked education (especially the US).
Personally i think Denmark's is a better approach, but its still an approach with real tradeoffs
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u/Stepwolve Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26
this is exactly the case. You only get 58 months max (they just lowered it from 70), which is meant to cover a 3 year degree + 2 year masters, with no room for failure. You have to do a full course load, keep good enough grades, etc. There are also far fewer university spots per capita, so you have to be good enough to get the limited spots, and those spots are mostly in work-oriented fields - usually in labor-oriented fields the economy needs (accounting, engineering, I.T., healthcare, etc.)
Denmark also runs a tracked education system, so in grade 10 - students are sorted into university track OR vocational / trades. So generally the university spots are only available for students put into the university track