Student review [#5367]
at VIA University College - VIA

The college program is satisfactory, at least for the engineering programs. Some programs could use a bit of improvement. For the ICT some areas are brushed over, things like Javascript, using Git for groupwork, and fullstack web development in general should be more emphasized, right from the beginning. But the program covers most areas of interest for an ICT student and is satisfying more or less. It also has a lot of cool electives. On top of that for the ICT program books are lended by the library for free, so the program is pretty cool.

Not the most prestigious college, like DTU or Aalborg, but for someone who wants an engineering degree in English and no bullshit, it should suit your need. Groupwork is emphasized. The topics are constantly updated and it changes according to the change in the market. Courses about VR, data warehousing and machine learning have been created as soon as these things became popular.

I studied in the Horsens campus. This is where you will most likely end if you go for engineering. There is a campus in Aarhus for non-technical degrees mainly and a new one in Viborg for those who want to study VR. Horsens is a small city, and the price of living is smaller than in other areas of Denmark, but still living costs are a bit too high for a city this small. Horsens has nice nature, but is somewhat small. Not that much for social life except go to bars on weekends, but as a student you there will be enough events organized by students for you to not die of boredom and Aarhus is not too far away. There are student bars, a sportshall right next to the college with courses like Badminton, Hip Hop, Yoga, etc. organized by other students. There is also a pool table, you can rent a PS4. There are also student organizations like DSR and AIESEC. Students organize parties, events happen. Also, you have 3 years of free Danish courses. You’ll find something to do.

The low-skill job market is tough though. It will be hard to find a job that will offer you SU. And you will most likely have to travel to other cities like Aarhus or Vejle if you are in Horsens.

The college is well-equipped, has all the equipment necessary for the degree you are interested in and all the relevant books can be found in the library. It’s always at the top of the game, and always get new stuff that is relevant in your field, for example, they got VR / AR equipment as soon as it became a thing. So, you’ll always have things like FPGA boards, micro-controllers, VR sets, etc. Even things like 3d printers, laser cutters and even good old traditional instruments too like machine cutters and any other equipment related to your degree.

The college also looks new and nice. Not like some other college that haven’t been renovated in decades.

There is a canteen, but it’s a bit expensive. Luckily there is a store close to the college where you can buy cheap snacks. A life savior.

The staff is easy to talk to and will help you solve problems quickly and easily, whether in person or by mail.

One very strong point to mention is that teachers aren’t usually academics but people with work experience in the field and they are always ready to help. You can talk to them easily and write them an email any time. They are very cooperative and willing to help and usually down to earth. You won’t feel stress in the classroom. As long as you do your job and study, you will be fine. The classes are small and cozy. This atmosphere is a nice change from big colleges with giant amphitheaters and teachers that just read off slides and never answer back and you don’t interact with at all. One of the strongest point of the college in my opinion.

Studying is somewhat easy (in a good way), but gets super stressful during exam period. But it’s fine more or less.

The students are mostly foreigners from a lot of different countries. It will be fun to interact with them. It will be hard to make friends with Danes though as they tend to keep to their own. Luckily, everyone in Denmark speaks English so you’ll get along fine with your English. Danish is not a hard language grammatically or written, but pronouncing it properly as foreigner is really hard. However if you want to speak Danish it will be hard to learn since you might not find someone to practice it with. You will mostly be surrounded by foreigners 24 / 7. The few Danes you’ll talk to will probably switch to English when they hear your accent. So if you plan to actually learn Danish by speaking it with locals, it won’t be easy at all. But you’ll get along just fine with just English. Locals are friendly to foreigners and speak English so you’ll have no troubles. It will be easy to make friends with foreigners, but hard to do it with Danes. If you want to, your best bet is to join some local club, like Rugby or kayaking. Any Danish workplace as well. You’ll make friends and have opportunity to practice Danish.

VIA is certainly a modern college. It’s less recognized or prestigious, but it’s always adapting to market demand and is a great environment for learning. It feels new, has all the stuff you need. It also has nice students and staff. Great place overall.

It’s one of the few colleges that offers engineering degrees in English, which is in my opinion its strongest selling point.

There are almost no downsides. The 2 I would mention is that some programs could use a bit of improvement to emphasize some things more (like full-stack web development for ICT), and that it’s not as prestigious as DTU or Aalborg for example. Besides that, there’s the fact that living in Denmark is expensive for a student and that finding a job is a bit complicated, and that Horsens is not that big of a city, but that has nothing to do with the college itself.

The college accomplishes strongly what it tries to accomplish, that is to offer engineering programs in English for foreign students. Of course it also has things like Marketing and Global Business, but clearly the technical degrees are its strongest point. It also has programs for Danes, like pedagogy and nursing, but I can’t speak of those as I had no interaction with them, besides hearing they are decent, I speak mostly from the perspective of a foreign student.

If your degree is decent (any engineering degree) you should find a job easily afterwards, usually. It’s probably the same for the degrees in Danish. Can’t say the same for Marketing for example, not really the strongest program the college has to offer from what I hear.

If you are a foreign student who wants to study an Engineering degree in English, this place is perfect. It has very few flaws. It’s not prestigious, but if you want a decent engineering degree in English and no bullshit this is the place for you. Just be aware it’s expensive to live in Denmark and the low-skill job market is tough, you’ll have to struggle and probably travel to another city for work, like Vejle or Aarhus, not an easy task. Otherwise it should smooth.

Would recommend if you are a foreigner who wants an Engineering degree in English.