Dimensioning or “dimensioning of higher education” is a policy area that deals with the scope (number of study places) and the range (which educations) the higher education should have. It is also about how and by whom the scope and range of the education is determined.
The universities largely control their own educational offerings, with certain exceptions. However, there is an expectation that the range of education at universities and colleges will correspond to students' demand and the needs of the labor market in accordance with the Higher Education Act.
SFS believes that student demand should be the most important factor that affects the supply of education. There is no value in creating educations that students do not want to study.
In 2015, the investigation was published Higher education for twenty years (SOU 2015: 70) which sheds light on how well the university's educational offer meets the needs. The inquiry came to the conclusion that the students' demand is in many ways connected with the needs that will exist in the labor market of the future. This means that society's need for skills supply is often resolved, as long as the higher education institutions adapt their course offerings based on students' demand.
In educations that lead to certain shortcomings, such as teachers and some professions in health care, it is difficult to recruit enough students to meet the recruitment needs. However, SFS does not consider it meaningful to increase the number of study places if it does not at the same time make it more attractive to apply for those professions through associated educations. It is thus a matter of increasing demand through the quality of the profession or education. After that, the universities will be able to take responsibility for educating more people. More about this in SFS 'position on the University's scope, offer, funding and admission.