Masters in Stockholm

Hello Sweden! Or should we say, hello again, as one might say that we have totally forgotten about this Nordic study destination after our Masters in Sweden experience? But in all honesty, is that even possible? For most of us, there is one special Swedish person who we admire everyday – Zlatan Ibrahimović’s football bicycle kicks, ABBA and their classic hits, or Dolph Lundgren’s cinematography. And today, we yet to find even more reasons to love Sweden, starting with the capital city of Stockholm and our main focus point, the Masters opportunities there.

What makes Stockholm an attractive study destination?

Stockholm is the major business, cultural, media and political center of the Kingdom of Sweden, located on the east coast of the country. The first origins of the city trace back to the 13th century and the name Birger Jarl, but it was not until the middle of the 1700s that a rapid development started taking place. In fact, a large portion of Stockholm’s contemporary architecture was established in the years after, especially during the Industrial Revolution. As of today, the capital is the proud host of the Nobel Prize ceremonies held annually and home to popular museums and landmarks. But wait, there is more – you remember those old Ericsson phones, right?

Well, Stockholm is the place where this company was actually established and - what is more - the location of the Ericsson Globe! So far, so good – but what about higher education institutions? Well, no big deal – the capital city only offers universities that are among the top-ranked, globally, and world-leading for research. Just take a glimpse at the incredibly regular, unsurprising table below:

Hold on to your hat, cowboy, we are not done here. There are many other institutions in Stockholm that can expand our list, with some more specialised in the fields of Business and Economics, Design, Fine Arts, Sport and many other:

• Stockholm School of Economics (private university)

• Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design

• KMH, Royal College of Music

• Stockholm University of the Arts

• Swedish Defence University

• The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences

Depending on your choice and expectations, you can come up with various Masters programmes delivered in either English, Swedish, or in certain cases, both languages. You can have a quick look at some opportunities available through the Masters Search – most postgraduate Master degree courses last between one and two years (worth either 60 or 120 ECTS credits). Speaking for Sweden as a whole, there are currently around 1,000 study programmes that are delivered in English. So chances are that you could easily find a suitable Masters offer!

Financing your Masters in Stockholm – funding schemes, scholarships and tuition fees

To start off, admission procedures for most universities in Sweden, and on that note – Stockholm, can be completed online thanks to the Swedish Council for Higher Education. From a financial point of view, however, there are two types of fees. On the one hand, there is an application fee of SEK 900, or EUR 85.12, which is usually paid during the online application process for a chosen university. On the other hand, there is the well-known tuition fee which is applied only for students who are not from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland. This means, that if you are an international, you should prepare to pay roughly SEK 130,000, or approximately EUR 12,295 per year for most subject areas.

Of course, our main goal here is to look for alternatives – after all, there is no need to go overboard with your budget, right?

Well, nothing to worry about – official websites of universities in Stockholm are quite rich in detail and provide loads of information. In fact, they are your best chance of coming up with suitable funding opportunities and schemes. You can check out what the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University can point out in this direction, as a form of an example. 

In addition, the Swedish Institute is another source of good scholarship opportunities for students from different nationalities looking for a Masters study in Stockholm.

Life as a student in Stockholm – accommodation, living costs and getting around

Alright, how about we start with a given budget? Depending on your chosen Masters course, lifestyle and university, it is understandable that you could be overspending or saving more, but given that we have EUR 1,000, which is a little over SEK 10,000, is it possible to go through a month?

Starting with accommodation, we can already scratch off almost 2/3 of this budget. If we now imagine that you are about to start your first semester at the Karolinska Institute, there is no need to worry about being with housing. Not only that, but there are several accommodation areas included, either offering apartments, furnished dorm rooms or townhouses. Rents include utilities and you can even find pricing per night – from as low as SEK 100 to as high as SEK 330. Take something in the middle and you can round up SEK 6,450/EUR 609 for 30 days only for accommodation.

You are likely to find similar information for your chosen university in Stockholm directly on the webpage of the institution. However, public accommodation is not always an option – and pricing is relatively high on the private market. At Study in Sweden, the official online guide provided with the aid of the Swedish Institute, you can easily browse through many websites that can help with finding private housing.

So, in the worst case scenario, being left out with as much as EUR 250 in your pocket, what next? Well, you can get an idea of the pricing in Stockholm below:

• Meal at an inexpensive restaurant – SEK 120.00

• Regular cappuccino with a 0.33 l water bottle – SEK 58.50

• 1 l milk – SEK 12.50

• 500 g white bread – SEK 22.35

• 1 kg rice – SEK 25.10

• 12 regular eggs – SEK 28.93

• 1 kg local cheese – SEK 84.71

• 1 kg mixed beef/chicken meat – SEK 124.90

• 1 kg mixed fruit – SEK 57.00

• 1 kg mixed vegetables – SEK 61.07

• 1 cinema ticket – SEK 135.00

• 1 pair mid-range sport shoes – SEK 969.34

A quick glimpse at the calculator and – yes, even with as much as EUR 200 - or to be more precise, around SEK 2000 for an entire month - you should be more than alright! It is also advisable to look for discounts, and not just with the help of the popular ISIC card. Find out more about Mecenat and Studentkortet for loads of deals for entertainment, fashion and technology. Furthermore, it is important  to not forget about public transport – the Stockholm network is quite diverse and extensive, consisting mainly of buses, ferries, trams and metro. There is a separate section regarding discounts for student fares, which can be received upon registering a user account. Lastly, make sure to arrange your health insurance status, which mostly depends on your period of study and nationality. Consultation at health centers can amount to SEK 200 for a single visit, which is why it is recommended that you sort this out.