Universities and polytechnics in the Pirkanmaa region are preparing the institution of tuition fees as per legislation passed late in 2015. The University of Helsinki announced last week that it would be charging students coming from abroad, specifically from non-EU and non-EEA countries, between 10,000 and 25,000 euros per academic year.
"The University of Helsinki has made its case, and this fee bracket will be used by the country's other universities as well," says Harri Melin, vice rector of the University of Tampere.
The Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) has previously announced that it will be charging 10,000-euro tuition fees from foreign students.
Parliament's decision to charge foreigners for studying in institutions of higher learning includes a 1,500-euro minimum tuition payment per student. Universities and polytechnics will decide the size of their fees independently.
Tampere fee 10K-16K
The Pirkanmaa universities estimate that their fee bracket will stay below that of the University of Helsinki. Reasons cited include differences in teaching and a lower cost level than in the capital.
Finnish universities and polytechnics must instate tuition fees by July, 2017.
Melin says that the annual fee for foreign students in Tampere would fall somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 euros. The University of Tampere currently offers 14 different degree programmes in English, a number which Melin says will be cut in future.
The Tampere University of Technology (TUT) features eight English-language programmes, of whose students some 80 percent come from countries outside of the EU and the EEA. TUT principal Mika Hannula says that his institution has planned to place tuition at between 12,000 and 16,000 euros.
Proposals incomplete
The Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) has three BA programmes in English, and three additional international MA schooling periods, with a fourth in the works. The price for a year's studies at TAMK will be at 10,000-15,000 euros, service chief Aura Loikkanen says.
Chief of international affairs Marja Räikkönen from the Häme University of Applied Sciences says that her school's tuition planning is still unfinished. The Häme school offers four programmes aimed at an international degree, and one programme for an applied sciences university-level English degree.
Universities and polytechnics all say they believe there will be a sharp decline in foreign students in 2017. The new deficit will be alleviated by welcoming students from within Europe, whose schooling will continue to be free in Finland.
