Colleges of higher education

In 2021/22, 36 500 students attended colleges of higher education, of whom 49% were female and 14% of foreign nationality. Colleges of higher education offer training within an institution. The creation of courses for the various subjects and their recognition by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) is based on the core curriculum governing training and education. These are binding for all providers of education and training. Education and training at colleges of higher education lead to the award of a diploma recognised at federal level.

Colleges of higher education: change since 2005/06
	2005/06	2010/11	2015/16	2020/21	2021/22
Total	10 173	21 867	29 748	35 941	36 511
Female (%)	28.7	45.5	46.7	47.7	48.5
Foreign (%)	10.9	11.8	12.1	13.6	14.2

Source: FSO – Statistics on pupils and students (SDL)
Data as of: February 2023

The number of students enrolled at a college of higher education saw a large increase between 2005/06 and 2021/22 (+259%). The same can be said for the proportion of women which rose from 29% to 49% over the same period. With regard to students of foreign nationality, their proportion remained quite stable (between 10% and 14% of students).

The most popular course in the academic year 2021/22 was Nursing and midwifery (21% of students). This was followed by Management and administration (15%) and Child care and youth services (11%). All other training sectors accounted for less than 9% of students each. With regard to student distribution by gender, there are large differences between the fields of education.