The Swedish National Union of Students (, SFS), is an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

students' union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizat ...

s at

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

facilities in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The organisation was founded in 1921. It has around 47 affiliated students' unions, gathering around 270,000 students (2012). The large number of organised students can in part be explained by the fact that membership in the official local students' union was mandatory for students at

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and

university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

s in Sweden until 2010. The requirement has a long history back to the precursor to Swedish students' unions, the students' nations where membership became mandatory in 1667. The local students' union is, however, free to decide whether to join the National Union of Students or not. Although a majority of the students' unions are members, some have opted to stay out, including several organising business, law and medicine students. Occasionally, affiliated unions choose to leave the organisation, but sometimes rejoin at a later date, a pattern followed by both the Stockholm University Students' Union and the Uppsala Student Union. The organisation works to represent the interest of its members on a national level, towards the Government, the Swedish Parliament, the political parties and the government agencies concerned with higher education. The organisation is also active on the international arena, particularly within the

European Students' Union The European Students' Union (ESU) is the umbrella organisation of 44 national unions of students from 40 countries, representing almost 20 million students. A consultative member of the Bologna Process, ESU is also a full member of the Europe ...

, ESU. At the annual national conference representatives from the member students' unions meet to decide on the policy framework of the organisation and to elect a national board. The board has 11 members, including the President and Vice President, in 2023 it was voted that the board 24/25 will have 9 board members with the President and Vice accountedfor. The President and the Vice Presidents work full-time at the head office in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

during their term. Several former student politicians in Sweden have moved on to high-level national party politics. Among them are

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...

(President 1953), and

Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, former Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He was the last rotating Presi ...

(Board member 1989/90)

Doctoral students

Postgraduate or doctoral students have a committee within SFS called ''SFS Doktorandkommitté'' (SFS DK). Formerly, the organisation ''Sveriges Doktorander'' (Sweden's Doctoral Students, SDok) existed. SDok was formed on 29 April 1997, aiming to contribute to improving research education in Sweden and to encourage deeper collaboration and increase the exchange of information between the country's doctoral students. One of the aims of SDok was to influence Student Unions and universities/colleges to employ Doctoral Student Councillors (''doktorandombudsman''). In 2008, SDok was merged with SFS DK.Doktorandhandboken: Partner organisations for doctoral students
, accessed 2013-08-06 SFS DK is a member of Eurodoc, the European federation of national organisations of young researchers.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Student organizations in Sweden Groups of students' unions 1921 establishments in Sweden

Doctoral students

See also

References

External links