Only two students of the forty who begun the doctoral programme in the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) are still working for the authority, reported Sveriges Radio (SR).

The 220 million kronor spent on the project since it was introduced twenty years ago has been slammed for yielding a low return of investment.

“We have not taken advantage of the outcome of the doctoral education,” said Mats Olofsson, head of the Swedish Armed Forces, to SR.

Of the 40 students who have enrolled in the government authority programme since 1992, only 14 have graduated. The rest have retired, changed to civilian work, or have quit the programme, according to SR.

“Some of those who have participated in the programme have then dropped out and gone into business or transferred to other administration – is this a failure?

“From a social perspective, I don’t see it that way, but for the Armed Forces it could be said that we could have perhaps used the money in better ways,” said Olofsson.

People who have dropped out of the programme complained to SR that the research environment was poor, and that the resulting PhD title is of little help in the military.

The Armed Forces is now investigating the report, according to SR, and intend to take in more self-financed doctorate students in the future, while special services have been created for remaining students still wishing to take the final exams.