Overjoyed business community: Aarhus University opens new IT degree programmes in English

By 2025, three new English-language Bachelor’s programmes in IT will attract even more international students to Aarhus University in Denmark. There is high demand for professionals with strong IT skills, so the news was welcomed by the Danish business community.

Christina Egelund, the Danish Minister for Higher Education and Science, has just approved three new IT programmes at Aarhus University:  

• Computer Science
• Data Science
• IT Product Development

The news was welcomed by the business community, including the data centre Bankdata, which is building a new headquarters with space for 600 employees in Lisbjerg near Aarhus.

“We already have many IT graduates from Aarhus University working for us, but we need many more. We could actually hire entire year groups from the Department of computer Science if we were the only one’s vying for them. So we’re delighted to hear that even more international students will be able to attend AU. You can safely say that it’s be a godsend,” said Esben Kolind Laustrup, CEO of Bankdata.

The City of Aarhus is working to attract more international IT talents to the city, and the news about the three new IT programmes was also welcomed by the mayor’s office.

“In Aarhus, the hunt for international talents to tackle some of the greatest challenges of our time is more important than ever. IT skills, e.g. in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, are in huge demand from companies looking to improve their competitiveness and to grow. Aarhus looks forward to welcoming the many new international students,” said Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard.

Collaboration for a good framework

Aarhus University is delighted by the approval of the three new Bachelor’s degree programmes.

“We’re very pleased that the minister has given the green light for the three new bachelor’s programmes. Our IT programmes are internationally recognised for their high academic level, and we already have a large number of international applicants to our Master’s programmes in Computer Science. We’re therefore very excited by the prospect of educating even more international students when we launch the new Bachelor’s programmes,” said Kaj Grønbæk, head of the Department of Computer Science. He also said that many international students choose to stay and work in Denmark after graduation.

“In collaboration with the municipality and the local business community, we’ll make sure new students receive a warm welcome, and we’ll help to establish themselves on the labour market once they graduate. We’ve already been pretty successful when it comes to retention. More than two-thirds of our international graduates are working in Denmark two years after graduation, and this is largely because the local business community offers them student jobs during their studies.”

The first students on the new degree programmes will start in the summer of 2025.