Tuition fees

• Students who are on their second study year or beyond can pay their tuition fee for the whole academic year, or per term. The academic year consists of two academic terms: the autumn term and spring term. The tuition fee for one term is half of the tuition fee for the whole academic year.
  • If a student pays the tuition fee for only the autumn term, they will be registered as attending for the autumn term and non-attending for the spring term.
• The amount of the tuition fee is fixed and is not affected by how many credits you complete. In other words, a student can complete as many credits as they wish during one term.
• A student’s liability to pay for tuition is tied to the student’s study language and the degree programme. If a student changes their study language from English to Finnish or Swedish, they will no longer be liable to pay for tuition. However, at the same time they will also lose their potential scholarships. The same applies if a student changes to a non-paying degree programme.
• If you wish to make any changes to your registration status (e.g. changing attendance to non-attendance), please contact the International Student Advice at international-studentinfo@helsinki.fi before 31 August for the autumn term and 15 January for the spring term. After these dates your registration as attending cannot be changed anymore to non-attending and your tuition fee/scholarship will be spent for that term.
• If you are unable to begin your studies on time due to a force majeure reason, you may be eligible to defer the start of your studies, as well as your paid tuition fee and/or scholarship, for one academic year. For detailed instructions, please scroll down to the section titled “Deferring beginning of studies” on the page of registration for the academic year.
• It is important that you are proactive in your communication to the International Student Advice and your programme with any challenges you may encounter with your studies. We can best help you if we are earlier informed of problems with your studies, finances, health, etc. Even if you think a situation might be resolved and you do not need assistance, please contact the International Student Advice to be sure.

Students must pay their tuition fee for the consequent year of study before they can register as attending. Once the tuition fee has been received, International Student Advice will be able to update your status as attending within one week. You do not need to pay separately for the membership fee for the Student Union (HYY) as it is included in the tuition fee. 

The tuition fee is to be paid using the Flywire service portal. Starting from spring 2024, the University of Helsinki is no longer sending invoices by email. Instead, students must pay the tuition fee online. In partnership with the University of Helsinki, Flywire is an easy-to-use payment solution that provides international students with a streamlined payment experience, saving time and money:

• If you pay the full tuition fee you can pay the full tuition fee here.
• If you receive the 50% tuition waiver or pay for only one term, you can pay the half tuition fee here. 

Academic registration as a tuition fee liable student is tied to the tuition fee payment. If a student pays the tuition fee for only the autumn term, they will only be registered as attending for the autumn term and non-attending for the spring term, and vice versa. 

The deadline for tuition fee payments for the whole academic year is 31 August. After this date a re-enrolment fee of 50€ will be assigned to you.

The deadlines for tuition fee payments per term are 31 August for the Autumn term and 15 January for the Spring term. After these dates a re-enrolment fee of 50€ will be assigned to you.

If you need to pay a custom amount or wish to register as non-attending for the whole academic year, please contact international-studentinfo@helsinki.fi. 

Starting from the autumn term 2023, the healthcare fee is no longer included in the tuition fee or scholarships covering the tuition fee. Tuition fee liable students need to pay the healthcare fee themselves to Kela (link to Kela website).

These same rules apply if you are delayed in your studies and must study for an additional academic year to graduate. You can register as attending for the following autumn term, in which case you must pay half of the annual tuition fee. The fee will be charged by term until you have completed the degree.

The instructions in this paragraph concern scholarships that cover either 50% or 100% of the tuition fee, as well as Finland Scholarships. These scholarships are granted only when you are accepted to the University or when you continue from the Bachelor's degree Programme in Science to a master's degree at the University of Helsinki.

• In order to renew your grant for the second study year, you must earn 55 credits during your first study year. The academic year ends on 31 July. This is the only requirement for receiving the grant. Only new credits that have been earned during the Student’s first study year at the University of Helsinki are included in the 55 credits. Transferred credits from previous studies cannot be included.
• Those who received a 100% tuition fee covering scholarship or Finland Scholarship:
  • When you have earned the 55 credits, send a message to international-studentinfo@helsinki.fi to notify us and we will then register you as attending for the upcoming academic year. Please do not send a transcript of records, we will check your data directly from Sisu.
  • Please notify International Student Advice about your earned credits as soon as possible, but latest on 1 September, when the registration period closes. After this date a re-enrolment fee of 50€ will be assigned to you.
• Those who received a 50% tuition fee covering scholarship:
  • When you have paid half of the tuition fee and earned the 55 credits, send a message to international-studentinfo@helsinki.fi to notify us and we will then register you as attending for the upcoming academic year. Please do not send a transcript of records, we will check your data directly from Sisu.
  • The deadline for the payment is 31 August 2025. Please notify us about the 55 credits earned and completed payment as soon as possible, but latest on 1 September 2025. After this date a re-enrolment fee of 50€ will be assigned to you.
• These scholarships are granted only for two academic years. You do not need to earn a certain amount of credits during your second study year. However, if you do not graduate within two academic years and need to complete credits during a third study year, you will need to pay for tuition for each additional term.

Each International Master's Programme can award one Dean's Award to a tuition fee liable student for outstanding study performance during the student's first study year. The Dean's Award is worth 1000€ and will be paid to the student's Finnish bank account at the end of the autumn of their second study year, provided the student is registered as attending. There is no application process for this award, degree programmes choose their grantee in August after the first study year.

The Bachelor's Programme in Science can award one Dean's Award to:

• one student on their first study year (grant paid on the second study year) for outstanding study performance during the student's first study year
• one student on their second study year (paid on the third study year) for outstanding study performance during the student's first and second study years.

The option for tuition fee liable students to register as attending for an additional term by paying only the Student Union (HYY) membership fee has been abolished in November 2024. This option was only created to allow tuition fee liable students to work on their thesis until the end of the term, as without this right they would have to submit it in May/October. Annulling this option follows the Rector’s decisions on submission schedules for theses and graduation requests, which now ensure that students can graduate within the same term if they 

• submit their thesis and graduation request by 31 July for the spring term 2025 or
• submit their thesis by 16 or 18 December (faculty dependent) and their graduation request by 31 December for the autumn term 2025. Please check the Rector's decision to see which date applies to your faculty regarding the autumn term 2025.

This update removes the need for extra registration solely for administrative purposes, helping to streamline the graduation process. 

NB! Students who do not submit their graduation request by the dates mentioned above must be registered as attending for the following term and will need to pay the standard tuition fee. 

If you have submitted your graduation request and your residence permit for studies will expire before you receive your diploma, you should primarily apply for a new extended residence permit based on studies. Another option is to apply for a residence permit to look for work (Migri's website). You can apply for this type of residence permit earliest three months before you graduate.

If you are a new first-year incoming student and wish to be non-attending for a statutory reason, please see the instructions on the following page: registration for the academic year

If you are a continuing student and wish to be non-attending for a term or for an academic year, please contact: international-studentinfo@helsinki.fi.

To be non-attending for the 2025–2026 autumn term, you must contact Student Services before 1 September 2025. For the 2025–2026 spring term, you must contact Student Services before 15 January 2026. After these dates, your registration cannot be changed anymore to non-attending and your tuition fee/scholarship will be spent for that term.

Important notes of non-attendance:

• Being non-attending does not consume your study rights or use up your tuition fee or scholarship.
• If you are registered as non-attending, you cannot attend classes or complete studies at the University of Helsinki.
• If you have been awarded a grant (e.g., the Dean’s Award), you must register as attending for the whole academic year.
• Non-attendance may affect your residence permit extension application.

When do I not need to pay tuition fees? 

There will be changes to tuition fee exemptions due to changes to the Universities Act, taking place from 1 December 2024.

The student is legally liable to pay tuition fees at the University of Helsinki (from 1 December 2024):

If they are not citizen of a European Union/European Economic Area country or Switzerland OR do not have permanent residence status in Finland. Students are not liable to pay tuition fees in case they have:

• a  permanent residence card in Finland (type P)
• a long-term resident’s EU residence permit for third-country citizens in Finland (type P-EU permit)
• a residence permit based on temporary protection
• an EU blue card in Finland
• Right of residence under the withdrawal agreement (Brexit residence permit)
• a residence card for a family member of an EU citizen in Finland.
• from students studying under the Erasmus Mundus programme funded by the European Union
• continuous residence permit (type A) may exempt from paying tuition fees if it is not granted on the basis of studying. However, they are required to pay tuition fees if:
  • their first residence permit in Finland was granted for studying, they have to pay tuition fees, even in case they have later obtained a continuous residence permit (type A) on other grounds.
  • they have a continuous residence permit (type A) based on family ties in Finland, and their family member originally came to Finland on a residence permit granted for studying, they are required to pay tuition fees.
  • continuous residence permit (type A) is granted for studying, they are required to pay tuition fees.

When does my residence permit need to be valid? 

• Documents stating that a student is not liable to pay tuition fees must be valid when the term starts on 1 August/1 January. 
• If your document is valid e.g., until October, you are not liable to pay the tuition fee for the fall term. If your document is valid e.g., until March, you are not liable to pay the fee for the spring term either. 
• Please send a picture of your residence permit to international-studentinfo@helsinki.fi.s (.s is for secure mail) well before the beginning of the academic term for which you wish to be exempted from paying tuition fees. 
• NB! Please note that having a pending application for an exempting residence permit is not sufficient for not having to pay the tuition fee. Always apply for an extension to your current residence permit as early as possible as the handling of applications at Migri can take several months. 

What if I do not receive a decision of my exempting residence permit on time? 

• If you have applied for an extension of your current residence permit on time, i.e. three months before it expires, but have not received a decision from Migri in time to be exempt for the coming term, you can either register as a non-attending student or pay the tuition fee. If Migri then grants you an extension of your exempting residence permit, which is valid before or during the term for which you have paid the tuition fee, the University can refund the full amount of the tuition fee.
  • Example 1: A student's A residence permit, granted based on work, expired on 2 March and granted them an exemption from tuition fees until 31 July. They have applied for an extension of the permit but have not yet received the decision. They pay for the autumn term and later on receive Migri’s decision that they have been granted an extension starting from 25 July.  They are thus retroactively exempted also from the autumn term, which begins on 1 August and the University can refund the tuition fee to the student.
  • Example 2: A student's A residence permit, granted based on work, expired on 2 March and grants them an exemption from tuition fees until 31 July. They have applied for an extension of the permit but have not yet received the decision. They pay for the autumn term and later on receive Migri’s decision that they have been granted an extension starting from 15 September. They are thus exempted from the autumn term and the University can refund the tuition fee to the student.
• If you applied for a new type of residence permit before the previous exempting residence permit expired but have not received a decision from Migri in time to be exempt for the coming term, you can either register as a non-attending student or pay the tuition fee. If Migri then grants you the new type of exempting residence permit, which becomes valid before the term for which you paid the tuition fee, the University can refund the full amount of the tuition fee.
  • Example 1: A student's A residence permit, granted based on work, expired on 2 March and granted them an exemption from tuition fees until 31 July. They have applied for a P permit but have not yet received the decision. They pay for the autumn term and later on receive Migri’s decision that they have been granted a P permit starting from 25 July.  They are thus retroactively exempted also from the autumn term, which begins on 1 August and the University can refund the tuition fee to the student.
  • Example 2: a student's A residence permit, granted based on work, expired on 2 March and grants them an exemption from tuition fees until 31 July. They have applied for a P permit, which becomes valid on 15 September. They are thus not exempted from the autumn term and need to either pay the tuition fee or register as non-attending for that term. 

Tuition fees are reimbursed per academic year or academic term. If a student has begun studying at the University of Helsinki in the autumn term, only the spring term can be reimbursed. 

You can claim a refund of the tuition fee from the Student Services by 30 September/31 January. If you have been registered as attending for the spring term, you must register as non-attending latest on 15 January in order to be eligible for a refund. Please note that the University withholds 300€ from all reimbursements to cover administrative costs.  

The tuition fee can be reimbursed if 

• a conditionally admitted student fails to meet the conditions for admission within the allocated time,
• a student’s application for a residence permit is rejected,
• the residence permit status of a student who has accepted a place changes before registration so that he or she is no longer liable to pay a tuition fee,
• the degree programme is not offered, or a force majeure event occurs,
• a student cancels the registration as attending and claims the refund on time. 

If a student graduates before the target duration of the degree has expired, i.e. in the second autumn of the master’s degree or third autumn of bachelor’s degree, he or she will be reimbursed for the tuition fee of the spring term. In such a case the 300€ for administrative costs will not be withheld. A student in such a situation should contact the Student Services at international-studentinfo@helsinki.fi as soon as possible.

Continuing UK degree students are exempt from paying tuition fees even after January 1, 2021 as long as they change their EU registration in Finland to EU right-to-residence in accordance with the withdrawal agreement (with Migri). Apply for the change of status between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021. The University of Helsinki however strongly recommends that you apply for it before July 31, 2021 so that you will be exempt from tuition fees for the whole autumn term 2021. A proof of right of residence, or a proof that you have applied for it (from Migri) is sufficient for exemption. Please send the proof of your right of residence or proof of your application to international-studentinfo@helsinki.fi as soon as possible. 

New UK degree students who arrive in Finland after December 31, 2020 are liable to full tuition fee and residence permit requirements like other non-EU/EEA students. The full tuition fee liability also opens the possibility to apply for University of Helsinki scholarships. 

• Who is liable to pay for tuition 
• FAQ tuition fees and scholarships 
• Other grants offered by the University of Helsinki
• Extending your residence permit 
• Graduation