University Education in Finland

The Finnish higher education system consists of two complementary sectors: polytechnics and universities. The mission of universities is to conduct scientific research and provide undergraduate and postgraduate education based on it.
Under the Universities Act, universities must promote free research and scientific and artistic education, provide higher education based on research, and educate students to serve their country and humanity. In carrying out this mission, universities must interact with the surrounding society and strengthen the impact of research findings and artistic activities on society.
All the 20 universities in Finland are state-owned and mostly financed from the state budget. Their operations are built on the freedom of education and research and university autonomy.
Universities confer Bachelor's and Master's degrees, and postgraduate licentiate and doctoral degrees.
Universities work in cooperation with the suspending society and promote the social impact of research findings. There are universities in 11 different cities and towns, which offer education in altogether 23 localities in Finland.
The higher education system, which comprises universities sand polytechnics, is being developed as an internationally competitive entity capable of responding flexibly to national and regional needs.
At the Ministry of Education university education comes under the Division for Higher Education and Science within the Department for Education and Science Policy.

Administration and finance

Universities are very independent in their internal affairs because they enjoy autonomy and freedom of research. Universities determine their own decision-making systems independently according to the Universities Act.
In Finland all universities are state-owned and subordinate to the Ministry of Education, which is responsible for preparing university matters which are in the government remit and for appropriate administration and steering of universities.

University steering

Apart from legislation and the policy outlined in the Government Programme and in the development programme, universities are steered by means of performance agreements concluded by each university with the Ministry of Education. The foremost instrument in the university steering are resource allocation, normative regulation and information-based guidance.
The three-year performance agreements specify the objectives of university operations, such as degree targets, the resources needed to achieve them, monitoring and evaluation of target achievement, and the development targets. These objectives and targets are reviewed and confirmed in annual performance negotiations. During the negotiations, the universities receive feedback, first orally and later in writing, on their their previous year's performance and on development needs.

University core funding from the government

The appropriations granted by the Ministry of Education for university activities consist of core funding, performance-based funding and project funding. Core-funding is intended for instruction and research. Direct government funding covers about 64% of university budgets.
In addition to the Ministry of Education, important sources of financing are the Academy of Finland, the Technology Development Centre Tekes, business enterprises, the EU and other public bodies. Most external funding is targeted to research. The Academy is responsible for the evaluation of research. Universities also have income from commercial services, such as continuing professional education.

Lifelong learning in universities

University studies and degrees have been developed to enable people to participate flexibly in education according to their life situations. Many fields offer Master's programmes and graduate-entry education tailored to different needs in working life.
In addition to degree education, universities offer open university education, continuing professional education, and adult education funded by the labour administration.

Universities

There are 20 universities in the Ministry of Education sector: ten multidisciplinary universities, three schools of economics and business administration, three universities of technology, and four art academies.

Higher education in the military field is provided by the National Defence College operating within the Ministry of Defence sector.
National Defence College
The university field is supplemented by university centres in areas with no university of their own. The centres gather university activity in the region. Their cooperation partners often include regional polytechnics, municipalities and the regional council.
University networks are mostly cooperation bodies for research and education units working in the same field. There are such networks for instance in the fields of communication, health sciences and women studies.

The virtual university works as a network on the net

The Finnish Virtual University is a consortium established by all the universities in Finland to promote and develop the use of ICT in studies, teaching and administration.
The virtual university services, such as jointly provided study modules and electronic transaction services, are intended for all the universities and accessible at www.virtualuniversity.fi.

Studies and degrees

At universities students can study for lower (Bachelor's) and higher (Master's) degrees and scientific or artistic postgraduate degrees, which are the licentiate and the doctorate. It is also possible to study specialist postgraduate degrees in the medical fields.
In the two-cycle degree system students first complete the Bachelor's degree, after which they may go for the higher, Master's degree. As a rule, students are admitted to study for the higher degree. Universities also arrange separate Master's programmes with separate student selection, to which the entry requirement is a Bachelor's level degree or corresponding studies.
Studies are quantified as credits (ECTS). One year of full-time study corresponds to 60 credits. The extent of the Bachelor's level degree is 180 credits and takes three years. The Master's degree is 120 credits, which means two years of full-time study on top of the lower degree. In some fields, such as Medicine, the degrees are more extensive and take longer to complete.
The system of personal study plans, which will be adopted by the end of 2006, will facilitate the planning of studies and the monitoring of progress in studies and support student guidance and counselling.
University postgraduate education aims at a doctoral degree. In addition to the required studies, doctoral students prepare a dissertation, which they defend in public. The requirement for postgraduate studies is a Master's or corresponding degree.
Universities select their students independently and entrance examinations are an important part of the selection process.
An admitted student may only accept one student place in degree education in a given academic year. The aim is to simplify student selection procedures by means of a joint universities application system to be introduced in the 2008/2009 academic year.
Universities also offer fee-charging continuing education and open university instruction, which do not lead to qualifications but can be included in a undergraduate or postgraduate degree.

On-line statistical data on universities and fields of education has been available in the KOTA system maintained by the Ministry of Education since 1981. The Ministry publishes an annual Universities publication containing data on university activities.
KOTA Online :  Open-access data bank on universities