Tuition and scholarships
there are currently no tuition fees charged in Finland
you will however need to cover all your living expenses independently
scholarships are mainly only available for Doctoral / PhD level
Plan your student financing carefully - even with no tuition fees, you will need financing!
One important aspect of study or research in Finland is considering how to finance your studies. At the moment, tuition itself is free of charge in Finland - for more information on tuition fee matters, please refer to the section:
Tuition fees
Even though there are currently no tuition fees charged, you will need to be able to cover your everyday living expences like food, accommodation, travel, insurance, etc.
How much money will you need?
We recommend that you reserve at least 700-900 euros per month for your living expenses in Finland. The minimum amount to have at your disposal, as required by the immigration authorities, is currently 560 euros per month / 6720 euros per year. In addition to this, you should be prepared to cover your travel costs, insurance etc. independently.
Please carefully read the sections:
Student residence permits
Cost of living
Can I earn extra money by working during studies?
Part-time work is allowed for students - but part-time work may not be easy to find especially if you do not know Finnish/Swedish. That's why you should not base your financial plans solely on the option of finding part-time employment during your studies. Please refer to the section Working during studies for some information and advice concerning this!
Scholarship options available for Doctoral (PhD) level
Scholarships in Finland are currently available mainly only for Doctoral level studies and research - for example the CIMO scholarship options. Please refer to the left-hand margin menu for information on different scholarship options.
Remember that first of all, you need to apply for a study/research placement - see section Doctoral admissions for advice & links to the universities' Doctoral Admissions pages!
Scholarships for Bachelor’s and Master’s level degree studies?
It may be very difficult to find any scholarships from Finland for Bachelor’s or Master’s level studies. This is partly because the Finnish government is already covering the cost of the education - thus allowing that the tuition itself is free of charge. So you should be prepared to cover all your living expenses independently.
CIMO / Study in Finland does not have any Bachelor's or Master's level scholarships on offer.
In the Erasmus Mundus Master's programmes, scholarships are however available. They are always applied via the university consortium offering the Erasmus Mundus programme in question (this is not necessarily a Finnish university!). Please also see the section concerning EU scholarships.
Some individual Finnish universities may offer a small amount of institutional scholarships of their own for their international Master's students. Please turn to the universities' own websites to check if such options are offered by the university.
You might wish to check if you would be eligible to apply for some "study abroad" scholarships in your home country, and from international organisations and foundations. For information on these, please turn to the educational advisers and authorities in your home country. See also the Other sources of funding section on this site.
Also, if full degree studies are not an option for you, you could check if there are some student exchange options open for you. See section Exchange programmes
Scholarships for post-Doctoral studies and research?
CIMO (Study in Finland) has no scholarshipso