Finland charges non-EU students tuition but pairs it with an unusually reliable scholarship layer: most universities offer 50–100% fee waivers, often awarded automatically to the best admitted applicants in the same decision as admission.
Applications run through Studyinfo.fi in a joint round that opens in December and closes in early January for most English-taught master's programmes.
At a glance
| Language | English for most master's programmes |
|---|---|
| Tuition | Non-EU roughly €8,000–€18,000 a year, frequently reduced by 50–100% through scholarships |
| Living costs for the permit | About €800 a month, so roughly €9,600 for a year |
| Main intake | August–September; the joint round closes in early January |
| Where you apply | Studyinfo.fi for nearly everything |
| After graduation | Two years to look for work |
What they require
- Bachelor's in a relevant field, with some programmes running an entrance exam or a written assignment
- IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 92 is a common baseline
- Motivation letter and CV
- Some programmes use an online entrance examination in April
- Certified copies of degree documents after admission
How admission actually works
Centralised, timetabled and predictable. The joint application round has a single deadline; entrance exams are held in spring; results arrive around March to April; scholarship decisions normally come with the offer.
Universities of applied sciences run a separate, more professionally oriented track with its own entrance examination.
How much does a supervisor matter?
Not needed for master's. PhD is a funded position or a grant.
Doctoral education in Finland is organised through doctoral schools. Funded positions are advertised; alternatively a supervisor may support a grant application to a foundation. Contact the professor and the doctoral programme coordinator together.
When applications open and close
The pattern below is what these systems normally do. Every programme sets its own dates, so treat this as the planning shape and confirm on the official portal linked at the end.
Funding that genuinely exists here
Typically 50–100% of tuition, granted with admission to strong applicants, sometimes with a first-year living grant.
A national scheme for first-year doctoral and master's level students at participating universities.
Salaried, advertised by universities and research institutes.
Finnish research foundations fund doctoral work through annual grant rounds.
Documents this country asks for
- Degree certificate and transcripts, later certified or legalised
- Language certificate, or exemption based on a previous English-taught degree
- Motivation letter and CV
- Entrance-exam registration where the programme requires it
- Proof of funds and insurance for the residence permit
Visa and permit
A residence permit for studies requires evidence of about €800 a month and insurance cover. Finland grants permits for the whole programme length in many cases, which removes an annual renewal headache.
After you graduate
Two years to look for work
Finland grants a residence permit of up to two years for job-seeking or entrepreneurship after graduation, which is among the longest in Europe.
What they favour
- Clear alignment between the bachelor's and the master's
- Preparation for the entrance examination, which many applicants skip
- A motivation letter that is specific and calm in tone
- Applicants who apply in the joint round rather than to a rolling programme
Where applications fail
- Missing the early-January deadline
- Skipping the entrance exam registration
- Assuming the scholarship needs a separate application when it usually does not
- Leaving certified copies until after enrolment
Official sources
Rules and dates change, sometimes mid-cycle. These are the pages that carry the authoritative version; if anything here disagrees with them, they are right. Reviewed September 2026.