6 Amazing Reasons To Study Engineering In Sweden

Sweden: the country behind Ikea meatballs, Spotify, Skype - and countless recognizable global tech brands. While most European capitals are still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, Stockholm is producing more unicorns per capita than any other city in the world and continues to enjoy a stable economy and progressive politics. So, if you're browsing for engineering courses to kick-start your career, we recommend you look to Sweden.

Aspiring engineers hoping to join a tech startup when they graduate should definitely look to Sweden for courses and job opportunities. A staggering 18 percent of Stockholm's workforce are working in tech, with 22,000 tech companies based in the city, according to a Google report from 2014. Indeed, as Dennis Mitzner noted in an article for TechCrunch last year, Sweden owes the success of its startup scene in part to progressive measures like government-funded tech incubators and seed fund programs, which have encouraged investors and entrepreneurs to set up shop in the country.

With eight universities featured in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017 for engineering and technology, including five among the top 200, Sweden's home to a range of elite universities, including KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology and Lund University. To compare the best courses in the country, consult Study In Sweden's comprehensive list here or explore these 10 unusual courses offered by Swedish universities you didn't know existed (many of which are within tech or engineering.)

If you're into saving the planet, you might like to know that Sweden has been investing in green energy since the early 1970s, when a global oil crisis knocked back the world economy. Today, renewables account for as much as 52 percent of Sweden's energy industry, almost 95 percent of which comes from hydropower. Businesses are following suit, with brands like IKEA already on track to achieve full sustainability across all their world operations by 2020.

If this sight of Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven dabbing isn't quite enough to convince you to pack your bags immediately, how about the Nordic country's broad range of nearly 900 programs all fully taught in English? To compare courses offered in English by Swedish universities, you can filter by subject and level of study here.

With 480 days of parental leave per child for the first eight years of the lives, it's fair to say Sweden's pretty family-friendly when it comes to the workplace. In fact, Sweden has some of the best working conditions in the world.

A software engineer in Sweden can expect to make US$38,517-81,626, with the possibility to earn up to US$104,302 with seniority, according to PayScale. Other benefits tend to include profit-sharing, as well as dental and health insurance. Civil engineers make slightly less, between US$35,103 and US$87,820, but report high average bonuses of US$2,445 and average profit sharing of US$2,500.