Eligibility for application and criteria for selection

­University of Helsinki decides on the eligibility for application and criteria for selection on a yearly basis. The following criteria are in force from the academic year 2026-27. 

Eligibility

• You have the right to complete a degree at the University of Helsinki. The right to complete a degree concerns the stage of studies required by the prospective programme or target university: usually either Bachelor’s or Master’s studies.
• You need to be registered as an attending student at the time of application and during the exchange. If you are registered as non-attending for statutory reasons (military or non-military service or parental leave), you can apply for an exchange, as long as you have a valid UH user account.
• Your right to study must be valid throughout the student exchange and at least until the end of the following term. If your right to study expires before the end of the following term, International Exchange Services and Education Cooperation will determine whether the student can be granted an extension. If your study right is about to expire, please contact the International Exchange Services team. If your home faculty does not grant you an extension, you cannot participate in student exchange.
• You need to submit the application by the deadline, and the accompanying attachments must comply with the requirements outlined in the call for applications.
• You need to have completed at least 25 credits worth of studies by the time of the application, from the University of Helsinki. If you have been directly admitted to pursue a Master’s or doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki, you must attach a transcript from your previous degree to your application. If you are studying for a Bachelor's degree, you must have completed at least one year at the University of Helsinki before studying abroad.
• Your study plan for student exchange must include studies that are equal to full-time studies (5 credits per each full month of exchange). The study plan must also indicate how the credits completed during the exchange can be fully transferred to a present or  planned degree at the University of Helsinki based on the University of Helsinki's recognition principals. 

University of Helsinki’s selection criteria for student exchange in case of competition

If there are more applicants to an exchange destination than there are exchange places, the following selection criteria will also be used to select students:

• Your exchange studies should not unnecessarily expand the scope of your degree at the University of Helsinki. In the selection process, your planned studies should not exceed  maximum credits allowed in the degree. Exchange studies should also not delay your graduation. If your exchange studies exceed the maximum credits of your degree or you would require an extension for your study right, you can only be selected to an exchange destination which has more available places than eligible applicants.
• If you are applying to a destination outside Europe and have previously been on student exchange from University of Helsinki outside of Europe, you can only be selected to an exchange destination which has more available places than eligible applicants.
• You can apply for exchange for a semester or for an academic year. Please note that some destinations only offer semester places, please check this from the destination info. You can only be selected for student exchange for a full academic year if there are places left in the quota after the lottery. If you apply for a full academic year, we recommend that you also apply to your faculty’s own destinations, when possible. 

Please note that applying to more than one destination does not decrease your changes of being selected to your primary destination. If you are not placed in your first choice, you will be considered for your other options on an equal basis with the other applicants who selected those options as their primary destination. We recommend that you apply to more than one destination, preferably to all four. 

Hint: The student exchange destinations of your own faculty are only open to the students of your faculty, so it is likely that these destinations have less applications than university wide destinations. Especially if applying for exchange in Europe, we recommend choosing your faculty’s own destinations in your application.  

Criteria set by the host university

You must also fulfill the criteria set by your host university or host program. This criteria is explained in each destination’s page.

• If the exchange destination has set limits regarding study level or available study programs, you must fulfill this criterion to be eligible for that destination. When making your study plan, make note of these limitations, as your study plan is evaluated on the basis of its feasibility (the study plan cannot include courses from the wrong study level or excluded study fields).
• If the exchange destination has a GPA requirement, you need to have reached the required GPA when the University of Helsinki’s application round is over as well as when you apply to the exchange destination. The GPA is checked directly from Sisu.
  • The GPA of all studies registered in Sisu is the one taken into account. The GPA of degrees completed in other universities is not taken into account.
  • NOTE: If you have no studies with a numerical grade registered in Sisu at the end of the application round, your GPA will be checked a month after the end of the first teaching period of the semester. This applies to Master’s degree students who have completed their Bachelor’s degree in another university than UH.
• You need to fulfill the language requirement set by your exchange destination. If you have already studied the required language but have not reached to required level during the University of Helsinki’s application round, you can be selected conditionally if there are places left in the quota and you have a realistic plan to reach the required language level before you would be nominated or you would apply to the exchange destination. 

If there are applicants who fulfill the language requirements, they will be prioritised in the selection. Destination specific language requirements are agreed with the host university and are specified in the destination info. 

How the selections are made

You need to be both eligible and fulfill the criteria set by your chosen exchange destinations. All applications are assessed according to the same selection criteria regardless of whether your degree includes a compulsory or recommended exchange period or not.

If there are more eligible applicants who fulfill the host university’s criteria than there are exchange places, the selection criteria set by University of Helsinki will also be considered. The application system will draw the exchange places among the students who are eligible and fulfill all selection criteria. Your chosen priority order of destinations is taken into account in the lottery. You can only be selected to a destination you have chosen in your application. 

If you are not selected to any of your chosen destinations, we can offer you an alternative exchange place from available destinations. If you want to receive an alternative placement offer, remember to mark in your application that you are interested in hearing about optional destinations.

International Exchange Services can deny your selection for justified reasons, for example if you have given false information in your application. If you are chosen for student exchange, you can lose your offered placement if you neglect your appointed duties, have given false information about yourself as an applicant or about your studies, or if the host university does not grant you an exchange place.  International Exchange Services can also refuse to re-select you for student exchange, if during previous exchange you have acted against the principles of the student exchange and grant agreement. 

The selection decision made by the International Exchange Services is presented to the host university for their decision-making. The host university makes the final decision whether they will accept the selected applicant. This is not an administrative decision that can be appealed against.