Opinion: NHH is failing their international students

You arrive in a foreign country filled with hope, eager to make new friends, learn a new culture, and build a foundation for your career. Yet, the reality upon arrival often tells a different story.

Adapting to a foreign school system and daily life in a new country is possible, but it demands effort and resilience. Being a student from a different culture and language can feel like being invited to a board game night at a friend’s house.

The directions to the apartment were unclear, and by the time you finally arrive, everyone else already knows the rules. You must learn as you play, often with a few missing pieces. You can still succeed, but only after more failed attempts than your peers who grew up knowing the unspoken rules.

Not all students at NHH come from the same background, culturally or financially. Expecting all students to play the ‘game’ of university without the same rules and expectations is a disservice to the diversity of the student body.

NHH: Global School, Local Blindness

NHH brands itself as “educating the leaders of a global future.” Yet without meaningful inclusion, that promise rings hollow. International students, particularly those in the BEDS and full-time master’s programs, face a series of avoidable barriers that make studying at NHH unnecessarily difficult. From visas and D-numbers to opening bank accounts or registering a phone, nearly every international student encounters the same bureaucratic maze.

These issues are not unique to Norway, but at an institution that calls itself international, they should not be this pervasive. As the head of the international student society, I have yet to meet an international that has easily navigated the bureaucracy of Norway without support.

If NHH truly wants to act like a global institution, it must improve the systems that support its international community. The administration could start by implementing the below support systems:

Creating clear, accessible pre-arrival information.

NHH’s current online resources are fragmented and outdated. Key information about visas, housing, transportation, and phone or bank registration is scattered across multiple pages and buried several links deep. Most leading universities provide centralized and intuitive international student portals that consolidate everything in one place.

Try searching “international student” for Copenhagen Business School or Stockholm School of Economics, and you will find comprehensive step-by-step guides. NHH’s version appears fourth under “new student,” requiring unnecessary searching and guesswork.

Establishing a dedicated International Support Office.

International support should not end when students arrive in Bergen. A single point of contact for documentation, credit transfers, and residence permits would drastically reduce confusion and stress. Many peer institutions have permanent staff focused on these needs, ensuring that support is ongoing, not seasonal or dependent on individual Goodwill.

Recognizing beginner-level Norwegian courses across all study levels.

Currently, A1 and A2 Norwegian courses (NOR10 and NOR11) only count toward bachelor’s progression, while only the B2-level course (ELE426) counts for master’s students. This structure discourages early language learning, even though integration into Norwegian life depends on it. Students balancing full course loads should not be penalized for investing time in learning the local language. Recognizing these courses for credit would be a small but meaningful step toward supporting integration.

These measures are not ambitious, they are fundamental. They would allow international students to focus on their studies instead of navigating administrative hurdles, and they would strengthen NHH’s credibility as a genuinely international business school. Many other internationally leading schools have these pages and documentation already easily accessible for students.

NHHS: Inclusion Starts With Language and Action

Student life at NHH revolves around NHHS, the student union. While its mission is to represent all students, its current systems and communication often exclude many of those it claims to serve. Two issues stand out: language and representation.

Language.

Despite NHH’s international profile, most NHHS events and announcements are still in Norwegian, even when marketed to all students. The fifth-year celebration and the World Mental Health Day panel are examples of events where international students were effectively left out, not by design, but by default due to the language barrier either in the event or through the marketing. When English is the teaching language of entire programs, it should also be the practical language of inclusion on campus.

Low international engagement is often cited as the reason not to make changes, but the cause runs the other way, exclusion breeds disengagement. If students cannot understand invitations or announcements, participation will naturally remain low. NHHS should therefore adopt a simple standard: events open to all should be bilingual, and any event held only in Norwegian should be clearly marked as such clearly. English is not a replacement for Norwegian; it is a tool to ensure equal access to the community that all students contribute to.

Representation.

NHHS strategy and decision-making tend to reflect the voices of already active students, leaving out those who feel disconnected or uncertain about how to get involved. A slogan for the future strategy of NHHS like “Lead, Learn, and Belong” means little if the systems of participation reinforce the same narrow circles.

Genuine representation requires reaching the students who are not yet engaged, through informal interviews (aka a conversation) and leadership onboarding and training that lowers the barrier to participation at the board level of groups in NHHS. These are modest changes, but they signal an organization willing to reflect on itself and evolve.

NHHS does not suffer from bad intentions, but from inertia. If it truly wants every student to lead, learn, and belong, it must first ensure that every student can understand, participate, and be heard. Inclusion begins not with slogans, but with language, access, and action.

Conclusion

The burden of assimilation and cultural exchange currently falls entirely on international students. NHH has the talent, brand, and resources to be a world-class institution. However, until its systems, communication, and culture reflect that ambition, many international students will continue to feel like guests at their own university. Students who come to Bergen with hopes of building a future in Norway often leave discouraged, put off by the integration challenges they face. These issues are nearly universal among international students and could be solved through better communication and documentation.

Change does not require grand gestures, only attention and accountability. Faculty and administrators can start by building proper support systems. NHHS can set an English- language standard for open events. And students, Norwegian and international alike, can start by simply inviting each other in.

If NHH truly wants to prepare global leaders, it must start by practicing inclusion on its own campus. The next generation of economists, innovators, and executives is already here. It’s time to give all of them equal opportunities, and a seat at the table.