Western Norway University of Applied Sciences or HVL is a Norwegian public institution of higher education, established in January 2017 through the merging of formerly independent colleges across five campuses: Bergen, Førde, Haugesund, Sogndal and Stord. Its oldest programs - teacher education in Stord - can be traced to 1839. The total number of students at HVL is about 16000, and there are 1800 academic and administrative staff. Its main campus is in the Kronstad neighborhood of Bergen, Norway.