Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology

What Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology does

Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology operates today under the Kristiania brand as a private Norwegian høyskole (university college) headquartered at Kirkegata 24-26 in Oslo's Kvadraturen district. The institution was formed through the 2018 merger of Westerdals ACT, the arts programs of Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus (HiOA), and other constituent institutions, and subsequently consolidated its identity under the Kristiania name. It is authorized to award degrees at the vocational, bachelor, master, and doctoral levels across four academic divisions: Technology, Innovation and Economics; Arts, Design and Media; Health, Psychology and Pedagogy; and HR, Leadership, Marketing and Communication.

Kristiania delivers programs through both on-campus study in Oslo and a parallel online channel branded Nettstudier, supported by the Canvas learning management system (hosted at kristiania.instructure.com). The portfolio includes a vocational school (Fagskolen) with tracks such as digital content production and interior design, bachelor and master programs (including an experience-based master's in leadership), one-year programs, continuing education for working professionals and businesses (Kompetanseløft for virksomheter), and doctoral education backed by formal research groups and projects. Supporting infrastructure includes a career center (Karrieresenter), library services, and a student ambassador program used as a top-of-funnel acquisition channel.

The business model combines publicly funded and privately priced educational programs delivered to individual students (B2C) and, increasingly, to corporate clients via continuing-education contracts (B2B). Marketing is multi-channel — website with study search, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, email newsletter, and on-campus events including participation in Arendalsuka. Specific tuition pricing, revenue, enrollment figures, and headcount are not publicly disclosed in the source data. No parent company, private-equity backing, or venture-capital funding is indicated; ownership appears to follow standard Norwegian higher-education institutional governance.

Name

Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology

Legal name

Kristiania

Website

https://westerdals.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Kristiania is a private Norwegian høyskole (university college) in Oslo delivering vocational, bachelor, master, and doctoral programs across technology, arts, health, and business disciplines via on-campus study and online learning.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Oslo

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Kristiania is a private Norwegian university college delivering higher education programs across four academic divisions: Technology, Innovation and Economics; Arts, Design and Media; Health, Psychology and Pedagogy; and HR, Leadership, Marketing and Communication. The institution provides bachelor's, master's, vocational college (fagskole), continuing education, one-year, online, and doctoral programs, supported by research activities and career services for enrolled students.

Product overview

Kristiania is a Norwegian higher education institution offering a comprehensive portfolio of educational programs and research activities. The institution is organized into four main academic divisions: Technology, Innovation and Economics; Arts, Design and Media; Health, Psychology and Pedagogy; and HR, Leadership, Marketing and Communication. It provides programs at multiple levels including vocational school (fagskole), bachelor's degrees, master's degrees (including experience-based programs), continuing education, annual programs, online studies, and doctoral/research programs. The institution also supports students through career services and maintains active research groups and projects. Kristiania operates primarily from its campus in Oslo's Kvadraturen district.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bachelor Programs
• Master Programs
• Vocational School Programs (Fagskolen)
• Continuing Education (Videreutdanning)
• Annual Programs (Årsstudium)
• Online Programs (Nettstudier)
• Ph.D. / Doctoral Programs
• Research Services Research activities including research projects, research groups, doctoral education, international research, and knowledge dissemination for academic and external stakeholders.
• Career Services Career center services connecting students with employers, offering guidance and workplace resources to support student career entry and development.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Hyper Island: Hyper Island is a Sweden-based private education provider focused on creative, digital, and business transformation programs. It competes for similar creative-industry students as Kristiania's arts, design, and media programs but with a project-based, industry-immersive model.
• Kaospilot: Kaospilot is a Nordic creative business school offering entrepreneurial and creative leadership education in Sweden and Norway. It overlaps with Kristiania's marketing, leadership, and arts/design programs through an experiential, project-based pedagogy aimed at similar younger prospective students.
• Noroff University College: Noroff is a Norwegian private university college offering technology, digital media, and creative studies, including online options. It is a smaller private competitor in adjacent program categories to Kristiania's digital content production and technology divisions.

Direct peers

• BI Norwegian Business School: BI is Norway's leading private university college focused on business and management, operating multiple campuses including Oslo. It is the closest direct analogue to Kristiania as a Norwegian private higher education institution competing in the same market with similar pricing models and target student segments.
• Norwegian School of Economics (NHH): NHH is a private research university in Bergen that, like Kristiania, operates as a private higher education institution in Norway. Both compete for students in business, leadership, and economics disciplines. NHH leans more academic/research-focused; Kristiania's overlap is most pronounced in its HR, Leadership, Marketing and Communication division.
• VID Specialized University: VID is a private university college in Norway with multiple campuses offering health, social sciences, education, and theology programs. Compared with Kristiania, VID shares the private Norwegian university college structure, multi-campus model, and similar program breadth at bachelor and master levels.

Broad incumbents

• NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology): NTNU is Norway's largest public university, with strong programs in technology, engineering, and economics that overlap with Kristiania's Technology, Innovation and Economics division. NTNU is a broad incumbent competitor for STEM-adjacent students and research funding.
• University of Oslo (UiO): The University of Oslo is Norway's flagship public research university and the dominant higher education provider in the Oslo market. It competes with Kristiania in master/PhD segments and research funding arenas, and offers strong public alternatives to many of Kristiania's programs.
• OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University: OsloMet is a large public university headquartered in Oslo that competes directly with Kristiania on many of the same program areas (technology, health, business, arts). As a public institution, it is a broad incumbent competitor with much larger scale but no tuition-driven pricing power.

Regional players

• Nord University: Nord is a public university college with multiple campuses across northern and central Norway. It competes for students in many of the same broad disciplines as Kristiania (business, health, social sciences, technology) but focuses on serving its northern catchment rather than the Oslo market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/woact
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/westerdalsosloact
• Instagraminstagram.com/hkristiania/?hl=nb
• TikToktiktok.com/@kristiania.no
• Xx.com/westerdalsact

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology