Frequently asked questions about admissions

Universities of applied sciences and universities charge a tuition fee from bachelor’s or master’s level students studying in languages other than Finnish or Swedish. EU/EEA area and Swiss citizens are not subject to the charge.

The tuition fee in our Bachelor’s degree programme in Social Services is currently €4,000 per academic year, in our Bachelor’s degree programme in Health Care, Nursing €5,000 per year and in our Master’s degree programmes €6,000 per academic year.

From 2024 onwards, the tuition fee in our Bachelor’s degree programmes is €12,000 per academic year.

You are exempted from paying tuition fees if you have one of the documents mentioned below:

• Passport or identity card to indicate the citizenship of EU/EEA/Switzerland
• EU Blue Card
• Continuous residence permit card in Finland, Type A permit. NB: A continuous residence permit (A-type permit) granted for studying in Finland (from 15 April 2022 onwards) doesn’t exempt student from paying the tuition fee.
• EU Family Member’s Residence Card in Finland
• Permanent residence permit card in Finland, Type P permit
• EU residence permit for third-country citizens with long-term residence permit card in Finland (Type P-EU)

EU countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

EEA countries are: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

For more information on tuition fees, please visit the Studyinfo portal.

Please see the Tuition fees and scholarships webpage.

Please see the eligibility criteria.

Starting from spring 2021 a university or university of applied sciences degree (bachelor’s or master’s degree) does grant eligibility to our Bachelor’s degree programmes. Please see the eligibility criteria for further information.

Applicants to our MA programmes should have a suitable bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 24 months (2 years) of work experience gained after their graduation. Please see the eligibility criteria.

If you have completed a higher education degree in Finland, or you have accepted an offer to study at a university or a university of applied sciences as a result of a joint application process from spring 2014 or later, you no longer qualify as a first-time applicant.

For more information, please visit the Studyinfo portal.

We do not have a quota for first-time applicants in our Bachelor’s degree programmes taught in English.

Applicants can change their study programme choices only during the application period. To make these changes, you need to use the link that you received in the confirmation email.

All changes that you are unable to make yourself must be communicated to the appropriate Admissions Services in writing, for instance, by e-mail. The submission of certificates to the Admissions Services is not considered a change in an applicant’s application. Amendment request must be specific and unambiguous.

Please indicate your full name and application number in any messages. Do not include your personal identity code in the email.

If you wish to cancel your application, please contact the Admission Services of your first-choice programme.

New students to our Bachelor’s degree programmes taught in English are selected based on the International UAS Exam, which is a joint digital entrance exam used by Finnish universities of applied sciences. It is organised remotely so applicants do not need to travel to Finland to take the examination.

New students to our Master’s degree programmes taught in English are selected based on an entrance assignment. There is no entrance examination.

For visa-related questions, please refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland website.

If you want to stay in Finland for a longer period than three months, you need a residence permit.

If you are accepted to a programme of your choice in the joint application, Studyinfo will send you a notification that includes instructions for confirming that you accept or reject the offer. To accept/reject the offer, click on the link in the message and follow the instructions.

For additional instructions, see the Studyinfo portal.

According to the one study place per term provision, you can accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland in education that begins in the same academic term. This rule applies to all higher education.

You have the right to pursue more than one degree, but the offers to study for these degrees need to be accepted in different semesters. The one study place per term provision does not apply to transfers to new institutions. Read more on the Studyinfo portal.

You can register as non-attending for your first academic year for the following reasons:

• service under the Conscription Act (1438/2007), Non-Military Service Act (1446/2007), or Act on Women’s Voluntary Military Service (194/1995)
• maternity, paternity or parental leave
• if you cannot begin studies due to being incapacitated by personal illness or injury.

(Universities of Applied Sciences Act)

You must prove the reason for your absence. For more information, visit our Information for new students webpage.

If you believe there has been a mistake in the student selection and the admission criteria have not been applied correctly, you have the right to make a written request for rectification. Information on the appeal process can be found on the Appeal page.

If you are interested in application statistics for the degree programmes taught in Finnish, please visit the Finnish FAQ section.

These statistics only include our BA and MA programmes taught in English.

• Spring 2022: lowest accepted scores for accepted applicants from the joint application and separate application processes
• Spring 2021: lowest accepted scores for accepted applicants from the joint application and separate application processes
• Spring 2020: lowest accepted scores for accepted applicants from the joint application and separate application processes
• Spring 2019: lowest accepted scores for accepted applicants from the joint application and separate application processes
• Spring 2018: lowest accepted scores for accepted applicants from the joint application and separate application processes
• Spring 2017: lowest accepted scores for accepted applicants from the joint application and separate application processes
• Spring 2016: lowest accepted scores for accepted applicants from the joint application and separate application processes

For more statistics on the joint application process, please see the National Board of Education statistics.