After several years of applications, appeals and resubmissions, the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) finally issued an accreditation confirmation for UiA's professional psychology programme on 13 February 2025.
“It has been a long and, in our view, unnecessarily time-consuming process, but we are relieved and pleased to finally get the green light for a programme that will meet a significant need in Agder and the rest of the South-East health region,” says Rector Sunniva Whittaker.
There is a substantial shortage of psychologists in Norway, especially in our part of the country:
- One in five Norwegian municipalities has not employed the legally required psychological expertise, and this situation has remained unchanged in recent years, according to 2023 data from Statistics Norway
- Agder is among the counties with poor performance, with six out of 25 Agder municipalities lacking the required competence, according to Statistics Norway
- This part of the country has the fewest psychologists trained per capita. In the South-East Health Region, each newly qualified psychologist is expected to serve twice as many residents (27,858) compared to their peers in other regions (West: 14,232, North: 12,398 and Mid-Norway: 11,855), based on the projected number of new psychology graduates for 2023 and population figures from Statistics Norway
- There is an estimated shortage of 400 psychologists in Norway, with 75 needed in Agder, Telemark and Vestfold alone, according to NAV's 2024 enterprise survey
“Forty student places in Agder will help address the regional disparity between health regions and meet the need in several of the southernmost counties,” says Whittaker.
“Too few newly graduated psychologists from other parts of the country choose to work in areas such as Agder, Vestfold and Telemark. We need to train them locally to meet this demand,” adds Whittaker.
Launch contingent on national budget funding
The University of Agder now has a fully prepared study programme and is ready to welcome its first cohort in 2026.
UiA has received strong regional support in developing the programme, including from the Aust-Agder Development and Competence Fund and the Sørlandet Knowledge Foundation.
“It is natural for us to pursue further collaboration with these and possibly other regional financiers to ensure continued development,” says Whittaker.
Professional psychology education is a resource-intensive programme to offer, so the university depends on funding the 40 student places through the national budget to commence.
“We are already in discussions with politicians in Agder and others who can help make this a major regional initiative,” says Whittaker.
Two individuals who have eagerly welcomed the news and are prepared to continue the work are County Mayor Arne Thomassen and Hospital Director Nina Mevold:
“The county, municipalities, hospital and many other contributors have collaborated effectively. There is a considerable need for psychologists, so this is an immensely important decision for the entire region. We now know we have an excellent programme, so we must intensify our efforts to secure funding for it,” says Thomassen.
“The Hospital of Southern Norway is very pleased that UiA has been authorised to train psychologists. It is well documented that the demand for healthcare personnel is set to rise. A local study programme will greatly enhance access to psychologists for both the hospital and the municipalities. We look forward to continuing our collaboration now that the decision has been made,” says Mevold.
“Now the work begins,” she continues.
Set to strengthen the team with a researcher
Although universities in Norway generally have the authority to approve their own educational programmes, there are certain exceptions, such as professional psychology programmes. As a result, UiA has depended on NOKUT to process applications and evaluate the quality of the plans.
In its letter to UiA, NOKUT specifies that the university must employ an active researcher in developmental psychology by 13 February 2026.
UiA submitted its first accreditation application to NOKUT on 15 October 2021.
- sunniva.whittaker@uia.no
- Phone
- +47 38 14 12 50