Student Welfare Organisation () is a

legal entity In law, a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, lawsuit, sue and be sued, ownership, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''le ...

responsible for the

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

s of

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 ...

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, scientific universities and other colleges in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The 14 organisations are regulated by the ''Student Welfare Organisation Act'' from 1996 and based on compulsory membership of all students attending the associated institutions. Welfare offers are financed through a

student fee A student fee or student activity fee is a fee charged to students at a school, college, university or other place of learning that is in addition to any matriculation and/or tuition fees. It may be charged to support student organizations and ...

, direct subsidies from the

Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research The Royal Ministry of Education and Research (, KD; full name: ''Det kongelige kunnskapsdepartement'') is a Norwegian government ministry responsible for education, research, kindergartens and integration. The ministry was established in 1814 a ...

as well as from the educational institutions through free or cheap facilities or real estate. The profit from the organisations commercial activities is channeled back to operation and investments in welfare activities. All organisations are led by a

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

compromising a majority and chairman elected from and by the students as well as representatives from the employees and the educational institutions. The board chooses which services to provide to the students as well as setting the student fee, which typically is around

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...

650 per semester, as of 2024. A voluntary contribution of up to NOK 40 to a student-based international aid organisation is collected alongside the fee. The student welfare organisations must report to the Ministry as well as the

Office of the Auditor General of Norway The Office of the Auditor General of Norway () is the state auditor of the Government of Norway and directly subordinate of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for auditing, monitoring and advising all state economic activities, including ...

. Among the responsibilities of the organisations are operations of

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

book stores and

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

s, of which the organisations have a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

to operate on campus. Other services include certain health services, advisory services,

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

s and

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

List of student welfare organisations in Norway

*Nord studentsamskipnad (Studentinord) *Norges arktiske studentsamskipnad *Studentsamskipnaden i Agder (SiA) *Studentsamskipnaden i Gjøvik, Ålesund og Trondheim (Sit) *Studentsamskipnaden i Innlandet (SINN) *Studentsamskipnaden i Indre Finnmark (SSO) *Studentsamskipnaden i Molde (SiMolde) *Studentsamskipnaden i Oslo og Akershus (SiO) *Studentsamskipnaden i Stavanger (SiS) *Studentsamskipnaden i Sørøst-Norge (SSN) *Studentsamskipnaden i Volda (SiVolda) *Studentsamskipnaden i Østfold (SiØ) *Studentsamskipnaden i Ås (SiÅs) *Studentsamskipnaden på Vestlandet (Sammen) {{Norwegian type of company Types of companies of Norway Education in Norway