Number of international students to Finnish higher education institutions’ English-taught programmes for spring 2026 reduced further for second consecutive year following introduction of application fee.
A total of 8,100 students were offered admission to Finnish higher education institutions’ English-taught programmes, University of the Arts Helsinki and Tampere University's Theatre Arts programme offered, said the Finnish National Agency for Education in a press release on Thursday.
About 21,800 students applied to higher education in Finland in the first joint application of spring 2026, with the acceptance rate being 37%.
There was less competition for study places than last year, as the number of applicants decreased by just under a fifth, said the agency, adding that the number of international applicants fell in particular.
There were a total of about 9,000 study places in approximately 440 programmes available in the programmes of Finnish higher education institutions that are taught in English, University of the Arts Helsinki’s degree programmes and Tampere University's Theatre Arts programme.
About half of the applicants were non-EU, non-EEA and non-Swiss nationals.
The acceptance rate to universities of applied sciences (UAS- Polytechnic Institutes) was 36%, while the acceptance rate to universities was 31%.
The number of applicants to University of the Arts Helsinki’s programmes was over 3,500, of whom 11% were offered admission. The number of applicants to Tampere University's Theatre Arts programme was just under 1,000, of whom 1% were offered admission.
Applicants from a total of 137 countries applied in this joint application round, and applicants from 120 countries were offered admission.
The acceptance rate of Finnish applicants was 34%. The acceptance rate of applicants from the EU, EEA and Switzerland was 40%, while the acceptance rate of applicants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland was 39%.
Finnish citizens accounted for 39% of those offered admission, while applicants from the EU, EEA and Switzerland accounted for 11% and applicants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland accounted for 50%.
Students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland are required to pay tuition fees at Finnish higher education institutions. Since last year, they have also had to pay an application fee of €100, which last year led to the number of applicants being halved from the 2024 figures.
Once again, the competition was fiercest in the field of culture and arts, where only 15% of applicants were offered admission, as well as the field of social sciences, journalism and information with 19% being offered admission.
Information and communication technologies as well as business, administration and law were the easiest fields to gain admission, with an acceptance rate of 34%.
Of the applicants who were offered admission, 43% were offered admission to bachelor's degree programmes, while 57% were offered admission to master’s degree programmes.
The applicants have been informed of the results of the joint application on Wednesday.
The qualified students need to accept the admission offer by July 9 at 15.00 Finnish time
Applicants can be admitted from waiting lists until 4 August.
The higher education institutions can organise supplementary application rounds to fill study places left vacant in the joint application.
The higher education institutions will independently decide if they will organise supplementary application rounds, and the programmes and instructions on how and when to apply will be published on the Studyinfo service and the institutions’ own websites once the decisions have been made.
Higher education institutions have two separate joint applications in the spring. In the first joint application, students can apply to degree programmes taught in English and to programmes offered by University of the Arts Helsinki.
In the second joint application, students can apply to degree programmes taught in Finnish and Swedish. The studies begin the following autumn.
Finnish higher education institutions can also organise their own separate application rounds outside the first spring joint application.
Earlier this year, the first joint application to degree programmes in English at Finnish higher education institutions reduced significantly after a drastic reduction in the previous year.
In 2025, the number of applicants was 32 400, which was about half of the applicants compared to 2024.
- Applicants
- Reduce
- Finnish
- Higher education
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
