International Master s degree programmes Pia Le Grand 9.6.2015
Why in English? To attract international students internationalization of Finnish HEIs, encouraged strongly by the Government (degrees taken by foreign students is a funding criteria) the needs of the Finnish labour market Principle: programme taught in English if there is an added value of the programme being in English the subject/charachter of the programme international classroom plans for international collaborations, e.g. the creation of a joint degree programme etc. The Bologna process launched at the Finnish HEIs in 2005 > creation of 2-year master s degree programmes with a separate intake Doctoral degree 4 years (Licentiate degree) Master's degree 120 ECTS credits 2 years Bachelor's degree 180 ECTS credits 3 years
Why the Master s level? The domestic students have the legal right to receive education in one of the official languages, Finnish or Swedish The Bachelor-level is taught in the official languages, the Master s level can be taught also in English Subjects related closely to the local environment such as geography need to be taught in the official languages even on the Master level Restricted resources > the same programmes can usually not be offered in more than one language unilingually Finnish bilingual Finnish & Swedish unilingually Swedish : bilingual with Finnish as majority language, Sami as minority language
Common features 120 ECTS Often multi or interdisciplinary approach Possibility for cooperation many are given as joint programmes in collaboration with Finnish or international universities Requirements: Academic: a completed Bachelor s (or equivalent) degree in a certain field, specified by the programme Language skills: The applicants must have attained a certain level in an internationally recognised English language test (in general).
20 Master s Degree Programmes at UTU Faculty of Education Learning, Learning Environments and Educational Systems Faculty of Humanitites Baltic Sea Region Studies European Heritage, Digital Media and the Information Society Suomen ja sen sukukielten maisteriohjelma (Finnish and Other Finno-Ugric Languages, taught in Finnish) Faculty of Law Law and Information Society Faculty of Medicine Biomedical Imaging Drug Discovery and Development Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Astronomy and Space Physics Bioinformatics Embedded Computing Food Development Information Security and Cryptography Material Sciences Molecular Biotechnology and Diagnostics Molecular Systems Biology Turku School of Economics International Master in Management of Information Technology Futures Studies Global Information Technology Management Global Innovation Management Faculty of Social Sciences Asian Studies
Students Application and Admission University Admissions Finland (UAF) offers a portal for applicants to 11 universities in Finland, which are also jointly financing the services. UAF provides the applicants to Master s Degree Programmes with information on how to apply and assist the applicant in the application process. Electronic portal + paper enclosures Applications are pre-processed at UAF (formal eligibility check), but the Universities make the admission decisions and notify the applicants An application fee (100 / applicant) will be introduced from 2016
Tuition fees Education in Finland on all levels is currently financed by the State (tax incomes), it is free for all pupils/students, according to the the principle of equal opportunities. Discussions about introducing fees for students from outside of the EU/EEA since a few years > now in the new goverment programme Tuition fee trial 2010 2014 to encourage Finnish HEIs to develop a market-oriented approach to international higher education by implementing fee-based educational programmes
Tuition fee trial 2010 2014 To find our what a transition to fee-charging study programmes would have on the internationalisation of higher education institutions, on the attractiveness of Finnish higher education, on student mobility and on the quality of foreign language higher education (MinEdu) 20 HEIs participated tuition fees 3,500 12,000 per academic year (most commonly 8,000 ) requirement: the HEI must have a scholarship programme findings: few programmes started charging fees so it is difficult to draw any conclusions final report pending
Impact? The majority of international students choose to study in Finland because of its free education > charging tuition fees will negatively affect the enrolment of international students in Finland, as evidenced by the similar experience in Denmark and Sweden. Will the numbers rise again after the initial chock? Will the tuition fees cover the costs? Swedish example Many things will need to change, for instance: > much more resources will be needed in student recruitment > a scholarship programme will need to be created > the tuition fees will need to be managed > change of mindset and university cultures when students become customers
How can we retain and employ international graduates in Finland? We try to increase the potential for foreign students to remain in Finland after graduation: relevance to the working life incorporated in the study programmes and proper career guidance language courses offered even if a course or two will never be enough for learning a language extension of job seeking period for students after graduation from 6 months to 1 year cooperation between ministries, municipalities, employers organisations Obstacles to finding a job for international graduates in Finland My personal greetings to the employers: see the possibilities instead of the obstacles!