For a new student

In order for you to confirm your admission, please complete the following steps:

1. Confirm offered study place
2. Submit your original certificates 
3.  Register for the academic year 2026–2027

1. Confirm the offered study place by 9.7.2026

Accept your study place by using the link in your confirmation email or by logging in to the Oma Opintopolku / My Studyinfo service. You need to accept your study place by 9 July 2026, 3pm (Finnish time) or you will lose it. If you are accepted from the waiting list, you will have a personal deadline for accepting the offer.

If you are unable to accept your study place online, please contact the Admission Services.

Before accepting your study place, be aware of the one study place per term provision.

Please note that if you have to pay the tuition fee, you will be notified of this separately. The tuition fees for students starting their studies at Diak in 2026 are:

• Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Social Services, €9500 per academic year
• Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Health Care, Nursing, €9500 per academic year

2. Submit original degree documents by 15.6.2026

If you applied with a qualification completed outside Finland and are offered admission to Diak, your admission is conditional until we have verified the qualification you applied with. If your admission is conditional, you will be notified of the condition via email and you will also see the condition at Studyinfo. If you are accepted from the waiting list, you will have a personal deadline for submitting your degree documents. You will get an email from us about it.

Please read our separate page for information on how to submit your documents.

If you do not present your original certificates for verification or if you have provided false information and would not have been eligible for admission on the basis of correct information, your study place will be cancelled.

3. Register for the academic year 2026–2027

After accepting your study place and after your study place is no longer conditonal, you have to register as attending or non-attending for the academic year 2026–2027. Register as attending or non-attending at the Oma Opintopolku/My Studyinfo service.

If you are unable to register using the service, please contact the Admission Services.

Please note that you can only register as non-attending for your first academic year on certain legal grounds:

• If you are unable to begin your studies due to illness or disability and will be non-attending for one semester or the whole academic year.
• If you need time off your studies to take care of a child in regard to the child’s birth or adoption.
• If you need to complete military service, civilian service or voluntary military service for women in Finland.

Please note that if you have to pay the tuition fee, you cannot register for the academic year before you have paid the fee.

Starting your studies in the autumn 2026

You will find detailed information on starting your studies on the pages of your degree programme:

• Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Social Services (DSS)
  • Please note that if you are moving to Finland and your residence permit takes time, you are able to attend lectures remotely via Zoom during the first semester. Please arrive to Finland immediately after receiving your residence permit, to join the studies on campus. After the first semester (autumn 2026) attending and completing studies requires attendance on campus.
• Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Health Care, Nursing (NUR)

Starting your studies later than autumn 2026

Absence in the first academic year

According to the Universities of Applied Sciences Act (see English translation), section 29, you can register as non-attending in your first academic year for the following grounds:

1. service under the Conscription Act (1438/2007), Non-Military Service Act (1446/2007), or Act on Women’s Voluntary Military Service (194/1995)
2. maternity, paternity or parental leave
3. incapacitation by personal illness or injury

To prove the legal grounds for your absence, please submit one of the following documents to the Admission Services by 9 July 2026, 3pm (Finnish time). We do not recommend that you send messages including sensitive data via unprotected email. Please use Secure Mail instead. 

1. A call-up order
2. Kela’s certificate regarding parental allowance period or, if the certificate has not yet been received, a medical certificate regarding the pregnancy
3. Sickness allowance decision or, if no decision exists, a medical certificate. The medical certificate must state which illness or injury the student suffers from, and that this condition prevents the student from beginning their studies on 1 August 2026. Obstacles caused by the practical arrangements required by the illness or injury: an adequate clarification, e.g. a certificate from the student housing foundation that the student is on the waiting list for an apartment required by his or her injury. Student’s own notification is not an adequate clarification.

If you register as non-attending and do not submit your document by the deadline given above, you will be registered as attending for the academic year.

If you do not register

If you have accepted your study place and your admission is not conditional, but you don’t register as an attending or non-attending student by the deadline, you will lose your study entitlement and will have to apply to have it reinstated by completing the form on the Forms page. The application is subject to a €50 administrative fee.

For further information, see Study entitlement.

Remember: students who fail to register by the deadline cannot be guaranteed a place in the year’s study modules.

All students at Diak need to acquire their personal Diak user account. Your user account was created automatically when you were granted a right to study. As a degree programme student at Diak you can activate your account at the start of your first attending semester (from 1 August onwards). Please activate your Diak account before the starting of your studies.

The instructions for activating your account can be found at the Diak IT services website.

If you do not have Finnish banking credentials, you cannot activate your Diak account yourself. You will receive an email from in early August 2026 to book a time slot for a Zoom call where your identity will be checked and your account will be activated.

After activation the account, which includes f. ex. access to your personal email and cloud storage, will remain available for as long as your right to study is valid.

Diak accounts use multi-factor authentication. After activation of the account, when logging in to one of the Diak services (f. ex. email, Diakle) for the first time, multi-factor authentication will ask you for more info and the preferred authentication method. This info is required to be filled in, that you can continue to use the account and login with your Diak account.

Using and login with personal Diak account requires the user to have working phone number or mobile phone. If you do not have a working phone number or mobile phone, please contact Diak IT-support. You can find more information and instructions about multi-factor authentication from here.

The Digistart introduces you to the digital systems and tools you need as a student at Diak. Digistart will be available from 3 August 2026, after you have activated your Diak user account. You will receive a link and an access code to Digistart via email 3 August 2026. The Digistart is completed at Diakle , our online learning environment. Please find instructions for logging in to Diakle here. 

In the Digistart you will learn for example:

• What kind of computer will you need for your studies?
• What software can you use for free as a student?
• How to access study materials and submit assignments?
• How to access your study records and grades

All Diak students should have a laptop, since digital tools and learning environments are used in all study modules. Some lessons will be taught online in Zoom and a computer with a camera and a functioning pair of headphones including a microphone is recommended.

We do not recommend using mobile phone to access lectures and learning environments, since mobile phone only offers limited functions in our online learning environments Diakle and Zoom.

DO NOT BUY A CHROMEBOOK for your studies, since some of our software does not function properly in Chromebook.

Students can have Office365 licence for free during studies. We recommend using Chrome internet browser in studies.

Non-EU/EEA students need a student residence permit. Please start this process as soon as possible, as the process takes several months. You can begin the student residence permit application online at Enterfinland.fi. Please note that you must personally visit a Finnish embassy or consulate for identification as part of this process.

Given the increased demand for residence permit applications for studies in Finland, some countries have exceeded the usual processing time for residence permit applications. In worst case, this may lead to a situation where a student is not granted a residence permit in time to start the studies in autumn 2026. Therefore, we recommend that you start the residence permit application process immediately.

Carefully follow the immigration authorities’ instructions and regulations. Important things to note:

• You can supplement your application, so you do not need to have all the documents ready when you begin the process.
• You will need the official Acceptance Letter from Diak to attach to the application. You will receive this after you have paid the tuition fee and submitted your original degree documents.
• You are required to prove to have sufficient independent funding for living in Finland.
• You must have sufficient insurance coverage for immigration.
• Always be truthful in giving information to avoid a negative decision
• In case you receive a negative decision, please contact Diak Admissions.

You can find detailed information and advice on the residence permit requirements and procedures on the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) website.

Step-by-step guide for starting your immigration process:

1. Prepare for the application by checking you have all the necessary attachments and information
2. Create your user account in Enter Finland online service
3. Fill in the application form for student residence permit carefully and accurately. Also attach all the required documents.
4. Book a time for identification. You can find a list of Finland’s embassies and other missions online.
5. Pay and submit your application
6. Visit the selected authority to identify yourself.
7. Follow the processing of your application.

Diak degree students are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). The mandatory healthcare fee for higher education students is paid to Kela, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Read more about the services of the Finnish Student Health Service.

You can read about the services provided by FHSH on the FHSH website for new students.

All non-EU/EEA students are required to obtain a student health insurance. Your insurance must be valid when you arrive in Finland and be valid throughout your entire stay in Finland.

The right to use public health services depends on the country from which you are moving to Finland to study.

If you come from another Nordic country to study in Finland, you are entitled to health care services. You will receive care under the same terms and pay the same amount for the services as Finns do. Bring along an official identity card when using health services.

If you come to study in Finland from an EU member state, EEA member state, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, you need to obtain a European Health Insurance Card in your home country before coming to Finland. If you have a European Health Insurance Card, you have a right to medically necessary health care in Finland.

If you come to study in Finland from another country outside EU/EEA, you need a comprehensive health insurance policy from your home country in order to get a residence permit for Finland. If you study in a bachelors degree programme at Diak, which is a 3.5 years programme, you will be granted a municipality of residence in Finland and will thus be covered by municipal health services. In that case, your insurance only needs to cover medicinal expenses. If you study in a Master’s programme at Diak and the estimated duration of your studies is less than two years, you will not be eligible for municipal health services.

More information at: Infofinland.fi

Tuudo, a mobile app for higher education students, provides degree students of Diak a student card, easy access to their study-related information and other services.  With Tuudo, students can check their schedules, courses completed, maps of the campus, important services on the campus as well as campus canteen menus. Tuudo is available to download from Google Play Store and Apple App Store for Android and iOS respectively. 

Tuudo offers a digital student ID card that brings you a number of student services and discounts.

Start arranging your accommodation immediately after being accepted as a student. The housing situation in the Helsinki region can be challenging and housing is given on first-come-first-serve basis.

Find information on student housing and benefits.

Would you like a tutor to help you settle in Finland?

Our student union O’Diako offers free tutoring for students coming from abroad.

Your tutor can help you:

• find your way to your accommodation and school
• how to get around on public transport and buy tickets
• obtain a telephone connection
• student discounts
• how Finnish prices and currency work
• health care, local services, leisure activities, culture, shops and shopping

If you need this kind of help and you would like to talk to a tutor, send me a mail and we’ll be in touch.

Community specialist: Kaisu Ojala, kaisu.ojala@odiako.fi.

Tutors are senior students that welcome the new students to Diak. Tutors will guide you with academic practices, help you to get to know the campus and strengthen the sense of community among students.

The student union for all Diak students is called O’Diako. For information on how to become a member, please visit the O’Diako website.

In Finland, the wages, taxes and general living costs are slightly higher than generally in Europe. However, most of the public services are funded by taxes, which makes them affordable and accessible to all residents.

It is not easy to find a part-time job as a student in Finland without knowing the local language Finnish. Working in a restaurant, cleaning, or delivering food or newspapers are common part-time jobs for students.

Financial aid

Students that have Finnish citizenship and, under certain conditions, citizens of other countries, are entitled to student financial aid paid by Kela (The Social Insurance Institute of Finland). Check the criteria for eligibility on Kela’s webpage.

Student financial aid consists of a study grant and a state guarantee for a student loan. If the student completes a study unit abroad, he or she is also entitled to housing supplement.

In order to receive financial aid, the studies must be full-time. That entails satisfactory academic progress, in other words the student must complete at least 5 credits on average for each month of financial aid and at least 20 credits in each academic year.

In addition, the student’s income will affect whether he or she is entitled to financial aid.

The majority of students living in mainland Finland can get the new student housing supplement from the beginning of the autumn term 2025. This means that general housing allowance will no longer be paid to students after 31 July 2025. You can apply for the student housing supplement in the OmaKela e-service. The supplement will be paid from 1 August 2025 onwards. The change will not apply to students who live with their child or their partner’s child. For more information, go to Kela’s webpage.

To find more information on financial aid for students, visit Kela’s webpage.

Living costs

The monthly budget for living and studying in Finland (including food, accommodation, transport and entertainment) is about €700-1000. It is advisable to budget a larger sum for the first month after your arrival, as there are always essential items which need to be bought in the beginning of your studies.

The minimum monthly budget can be roughly divided as follows:

• Rent:
  • Student housing €400–800
  • Private housing €500-1000
• Food: €200-300
• Transportation: €60

Other expenses, e.g. study material, also need to be taken into account. Please note that expenses for study materials are relatively low in Finland, because you can borrow most books from Diak library or from other libraries.

Student discounts

University students are entitled to discounts for various services in Finland.

All students will receive a meal benefit which entitles them to meal discounts at all student restaurants in Finland. Students living in the Helsinki metropolitan area can also get a student discount on a monthly travel card for local travel inside the Helsinki metropolitan area.

An easy option to get all the student discounts is to obtain a Diak’s student union O’Diako student union card. The card entitles you to discounts on transportation (both local and long-distance), meals, and several other services (cultural and recreational activities) with one single card.

You will receive more information about the student card and O’Diako in the beginning of your studies.

Student meals

As a degree student of university of applied sciences, you are eligible for discounted meals in student restaurants that participate in the meal subsidy programme​.

Read about how to prove your student status on Kela’s webpage.

You are entitled to the meal subsidy if you are based in Finland and are completing a bachelor’s or master’s level degree. You can qualify even if you are not a Finnish citizen.

If you are attending a higher education institution in Finland as an exchange student, you qualify for the meal subsidy for the duration of your exchange.

For more information on the meal subsidy, go to Kela’s webpage.

Currency and payments

Finland uses Euro (€, EUR, E, e) as its currency. Most stores accept Visa, MasterCard, and debit cards. In general, Finns tend to prefer card payments.

If you need cash, you can obtain it from a cash machine in the Otto Network. Otto machines work with international cards bearing the following symbols: Visa, MasterCard, Visa Electron, Maestro, EC, Cirrus and Plus.

Bills, such as your rent, must usually be paid on the recipient’s bank account.

Banks

The policy for opening a bank account depends on the bank, so it’s very hard to give exact steps for opening a bank account. We recommend that you contact the bank beforehand and inquire about the possibility of opening an account and asking what documents are needed. Banks in Finland are open Monday to Friday 9.30-16.15.

Banks operating in Finland:

• Aktia
• Nordea
• OP-Pohjola
• Danske Bank
• Alisa Pankki