Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences

Oslo and Akershus University College (Norwegian: Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus, abbr. HiOA) is the largest state university college in Norway, with more than 16,000 students and 1,700 employees. HiOA has higher education programs at all levels up to PhD. It offers studies and conducts research in health professions, social sciences, engineering, liberal arts, and other fields.

HiOA was established in 2011 following the merger of Oslo University College and Akershus University College, which were themselves the results of many previous mergers. In 2014 the Work Research Institute and Norwegian Social Research were also merged into the institution, and from 2016 it also incorporates the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research and the National Institute for Consumer Research. Most of the university college is located in the city centre of Oslo along the Pilestredet street, with subsidiary campuses in Sandvika and Kjeller in Akershus.

New practice, new knowledge

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.