In Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, a university college (Swedish: högskola; Norwegian: høyskole, høgskole or høgskule; Danish: professionshøjskole; literally meaning "high school" and "professional high school") is an independent institution that provides tertiary education (bachelor's and master's degrees) and quaternary education (PhD). Most of these institutions traditionally had an emphasis on less academic and more vocational programmes such as teacher or nursing education as well as shorter technical education; historically, these institutions were somewhat similar to a Fachhochschule in Germany and to a Polytechnic in the United Kingdom. The term is also used for some specialized universities.
Today, the distinction between university colleges and universities is of less importance in Sweden and Norway. In Denmark, university colleges grant non-academic degrees, but these may in some cases give access to further education at master level at a university.