In an international context, the University of Aarhus is a large and distinctive educational institution. The university constantly assesses and further develops its offer of degree programmes and makes sure that new degree programmes are developed on an ongoing basis. These meet the requirements of both the outside world and the university’s quality standards, thus ensuring that the next generation is trained to face the challenges of the future. The university offers unique possibilities for subject combinations thanks to its academic diversity. It expects that the number of students applying for its degree programmes will increase in the forthcoming years.

Most of the university’s degree programmes take place in and around the University Park. In order to establish a coherent higher education system, the university collaborates closely with other educational institutions in Aarhus under the heading of the Aarhus Campus.

It is the university’s goal to be a leader in the field of knowledge transfer with society in general. The most important contribution to knowledge transfer takes place through the university’s students and graduates. However, a considerable amount of communication also takes place via the Aarhus University Press, and the Danish University Extension in Aarhus (Folkeuniversitetet), which has 23,000 course participants and is the largest extension university in Denmark. In addition, the university is an active partner in a number of museums and other similar institutions, which record more than 260,000 visitors per year. Finally, staff members are encouraged to contribute to the public debate.

In 2007, the university has 35,427 students, 30,296 of whom are full-time students and 5,131 of whom are part-time students, distributed among 74 Bachelor’s degree programmes, 90 Master’s degree programmes and a considerable number of continuing and further education programmes. Approximately 2,700 Bachelor’s degree students and 2,800 Master’s degree students graduate from the university every year. In addition in 2006, in the field of continuing and further education, the university had 4,215 feepaying students. 754 individuals completed the part-time Master’s degree and diploma degree programmes.

The aims and objectives are:

• to offer top-quality degree programmes within all the university’s fields of competence
• to utilise the entire range of its competence to develop new degree programmes that reflect the needs of the future
• to increase the scope, relevance and quality of its continuing and further education courses
• to attract the best students and be an attractive choice for new groups of Danish and foreign students
• to strengthen the knowledge society via independent and inspiring communication of knowledge.

The University of Aarhus has decided:

• that its degree programmes must set the standard for national and international accreditation
• to establish “main routes” within the degree programmes by limiting the number of Bachelor’s degree programmes and at the same time expanding the range of Master’s degree programmes
• to offer the best and most attractive continuing and further education programmes to both Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree graduates, and that contact with the graduates must be maintained via an alumni network
• to establish a flexible credit system that provides the students with more options for new and unusual subject combinations
• that the communication of research-based knowledge to citizens, politicians and key sectors of society must be qualified and intensified in a wide range of media and by strengthening the university’s museum environment.