Aarhus draws young people away from provincial study cities

Young people are increasingly moving to Aarhus for higher education, leaving other parts of Denmark short of students and future workers, DR reports.

With study programmes starting next week, the imbalance between university cities is becoming more pronounced. In teacher training, 505 students are starting in Aarhus, compared with just 45 in Esbjerg, Denmark’s sixth-largest city, which is expected to train teachers for Southern Denmark.

Alexander Christian von Oettingen, rector of University College South Denmark, said the trend was weakening connections across the country.

“I am deeply envious that so many students are going to Aarhus,” he said.

The imbalance affects many programmes, not just teacher training. Statistics Denmark figures show that young people’s moving patterns have shifted. Roughly one in three moves from Southern, Western and Eastern Jutland now ends in Aarhus, a significant increase from 2010.

Von Oettingen said the movement was making it harder for the region to train and recruit teachers, childcare workers, nurses and social workers.

“When young people move away, many do not return. Then they are gone,” he said.

University College South Denmark has struggled to attract students as young people move towards Aarhus and other large cities. The institution has cut 70 million kroner over about five years and dismissed teaching staff.

Other provincial study cities have also lost students. Haderslev, Skive, Hobro, Ikast and Nørre Nissum have each lost around one in three students over five years, according to figures from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

Young people should be free to move to larger cities, said Anders Graae Rasmussen, rector of Dania Academy. But he added that many 25-year-olds in provincial areas also wanted to pursue higher education close to home.

“It is not fair if there is no local option and they have to move a very long way. It is important to retain educational programmes in some form,” he said.

Rasmussen also pointed to an imbalance between the locations of study programmes and jobs. Young people who move to large cities expect to find internships nearby, while the relevant jobs may be elsewhere.

Catharina Victoria Petersen, 21, moved from Esbjerg to Aarhus this summer to study psychology. She could have taken the same programme in her hometown but preferred to move.

Karsten Rieder, director of Business Esbjerg, said companies in several regions would face labour shortages if fewer young people returned to Southern Denmark. He called for the government to limit enrolment in large study cities and make it easier to establish programmes in provincial areas.

“It requires politicians to consider regulation. I know regulation is a difficult and harsh word, but I believe it is the only way to stop this flow,” he said.

Education Minister Christina Egelund acknowledged that businesses would face problems but said the issue could not be solved quickly.

“It is a difficult task. Many young people moving towards large cities is a megatrend, and we are also facing very small youth cohorts. That means there are fewer students overall, and the impact is particularly severe if you are already a smaller town,” she said.

Freya Louise Broe Lund, 22, has moved from Lemvig to Aarhus to study chemistry at Aarhus University. She wanted to study in Western Jutland, but the programme is not available there. She said she knows more than 30 young people from Lemvig who have also moved to Aarhus.

The availability of programmes can influence where young people move. Esbjerg now offers popular courses including medicine, psychology and law, in the hope of attracting more students to Southern Denmark.

Dania Academy is also working to create larger education campuses in provincial areas. The aim is to create a stronger student environment and allow institutions to share facilities such as classrooms, canteens and offices. More programmes in provincial areas are also being offered through distance learning.