Norweigan mass murderer Anders Behrig Breivik, 36, has been admitted to the University of Oslo's political science program, although he will stay in his cell to study, the university's rector said Friday.
Breivik, a right-wing extremist, is serving 21 years in prison for killing 69 students at a summer camp in 2011 after a bomb he planted in Oslo killed the first eight, according to The Guardian.
He applied to Oslo University in 2013 but was turned down because his qualifications were insufficient. Since then he has taken courses in prison and now qualifies for admission.
"He meets the admission requirements. We stick to our rules and he will be admitted," Oslo University Rector Ole Petter Ottersen told Reuters, saying prisoners are eligible to study as long as their academic grades are good enough, according to USA Today.
Breivik will begin the university program in August. Prison regulations will prevent him from going to the Oslo campus, attending classes, accessing digital learning resources or having any contact with students or university staff, Reuters reports.
"It is important to us that he remains in his cell," Lisbeth Kristine Roeyneland of the victims' support group told Norwegian news agency NTB. "To us, it is irrelevant whether he sits there and reads fiction or whether he is studying a book of political science."
Norway will open a "July 22 Centre" next week in Oslo with information and exhibits about the attacks. Some relatives and survivors worry that it may become a Breivik "hall of fame".
