Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL)

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (Høgskulen på Vestlandet, HVL) is a higher education institution on the west coast of Norway with five campuses: Bergen, Førde, Haugesund, Sogndal and Stord. It had 16,855 students in autumn 2025, of whom 11,080 studied in Bergen and 2,330 in Sogndal, and it describes itself as one of the largest higher education institutions in the country.

HVL has a profession- and workforce-oriented profile and educates, among others, nurses, teachers and engineers. Its academic fields are health and social sciences, engineering and maritime studies, teacher education, culture and sports, natural and social sciences, and economics and management. It has 49 bachelor's programmes and 5 PhD programmes. For international students it offers courses for exchange students as well as bachelor's, master's and PhD programmes taught in English.

The academic year has two semesters. Exchange students from partner universities apply by 15 April for the autumn semester and by 15 October for the spring semester. Students from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland must pay tuition fees. Housing for exchange students is arranged in cooperation with Sammen, the student welfare organisation. The Sogndal campus is at Røyrgata 6, 6856 Sogndal; general enquiries go to [email protected].