Statement from the CEO

Helping young people to reach their goals

2021 has been a challenging and strategically important year where we have laid a solid foundation for the coming years.

Erik Brandt, CEO

The demand for our student offerings remains strong and the need for higher education is increasing. Student satisfaction is at all-time high and the introduction of new study programmes at Oslo Nye Høyskole has been a success. Sonans has been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but important measures have been taken to align our study programmes to the rapid online migration that has taken place.

Our key focus is our students, and we do our utmost to create an optimal learning environment which will enable them to reach their full potential. I am very proud of the efforts made by our teachers and the feedback from the students is very positive. 95% of all the students at Sonans pass their exams, and 85% reach their goals of entering their choice of higher education after graduating from our private candidate school.

Oslo Nye Høyskole was ranked top three in the annual national student survey “Studiebarometeret” and ranked as the college with the best technical solutions for online teaching in Norway. Our vision is to create “the best student experience” and our mission is “to reach your goal together.” I am happy to say that we have come a long way in reaching these ambitious goals.

We have also faced some challenges during 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw a rapid student migration from campus classes to online courses. This shift happened faster than we expected, leaving us with an overextended campus structure. Responding to this development, and to further improve the student offerings at Sonans, several measures have been undertaken. We have introduced a new and unique learning concept by establishing a digital campus structure and we will scale down the number of campuses.

The new digital campus will utilise existing teaching capacity and it will be crucial to facilitate interaction between teachers and fellow students. We will never compromise on student satisfaction, and we will make sure that an optimal learning environment will be maintained. The new digital campus structure will also significantly expand our geographical reach, enabling us to help even more young people to reach their goals. I believe the new digital campus will further strengthen our market position and standing among our students.

During 2021 we renamed Bjørknes Høyskole to Oslo Nye Høyskole, to better reflect the strategic direction of the school. The college has never experienced a stronger position among the students than at the end of 2021. We have launched four new bachelor programmes during the year, resulting in a record high student intake. It is also positive that the growth is driven by strong demand for our multi-year programmes, securing a platform for additional expansion and growth.

We will focus on expanding Oslo Nye Høyskole further by increasing the number of students by introducing new annual and single subject programmes derived from the multi-year programmes. We also plan to launch a new bachelor programme in 2023, which will consolidate our position among the students even further.

I believe we have established a clear roadmap for expanding our student programmes and operations going forward. However, the first key to success is to have an efficient and dedicated organisation in place to secure execution capacity – and I am happy to say that we do.

I am impressed with the competence and dedication I have seen in all parts of the organisation throughout the year and the way my colleagues and teammates have adapted to all challenges and changes throughout the pandemic.

The market for education is growing and we have a strong position in this market. I am looking forward to creating value for all our stakeholders together with my competent and highly motivated colleagues.

Erik Brandt, CEO