Tuition fees and Scholarships

The Finnish higher education institutions charge tuition fees for students outside the EU/EEA area. The fees concern the study programmes conducted in English. Further information on who is required to pay the tuition fees can be found on the Studyinfo.fi service.

Instructions for paying the tuition fee are given to the admitted student in the offer of admission. The tuition fee is paid online via Flywire.

Flywire provides a secure global payment network that simplifies paying your fees from your home country and countries around the world. Payment options can include bank transfers, credit cards, e-wallets and more, typically in your home currency for most countries.

The due date for the fee is the same as the deadline to accept the offer of admission.

The tuition fee for one academic year is paid in one instalment, it is not possible to pay the fee in parts. For the degree programmes beginning in January, the fee is paid for the first semester separately (50% of the fee), after which the academic year timeline (full fee) is followed.

You do not have to pay the tuition fee if you have one of these documents:

• Passport or identity card to indicate the citizenship of EU/EEA/Switzerland
• EU Blue Card in Finland
• Continuous residence permit card in Finland, Type A permit issued for purposes other than studies
• EU Family Member’s Residence Card in Finland
• Permanent residence permit card in Finland, Type P permit
• EU residence permit for third-country citizens with long-term residence permit card in Finland (Type P-EU)
• Brexit residence permit card, Type SEU-sopimuksen 50 artikla = Right of residence under the withdrawal agreement, or P SEU-sopimuksen 50 artikla = Right of permanent residence under the withdrawal agreement

Please note that

• you upload a copy of the exempting document to your application form on Studyinfo.
• the exempting document must be valid when the semester starts on 1 January or 1 August.
• a residence permit in another EU/EEA country is not sufficient grounds for exemption, only residence permits in Finland can be considered.
• the exemption is not possible based on a residence permit issued e.g. to a family member in Finland, the exempting document must be your own.

The paid tuition fee can only be refunded in the following cases:

• a residence permit for the studies arranged on campus is not granted. The refund is possible also if you are not granted a visa for entering the country where you need to travel to prove your identity in person for the residence permit. In this case you must provide proof of a negative visa decision and a pending residence permit application certificate from Enter Finland service.
• your enrolment status is changed to non-attendant after paying the fee but before the enrolment deadline.
• you graduate during the autumn semester of the last study year after paying the fee for the whole year, in this case the fee paid for the spring semester is refunded.
• you receive a document that exempts you from the tuition fee during autumn semester, in this case the fee paid for the spring semester is refunded.
• you receive a document that exempts you from the tuition fee after paying the fee but before deadline for tuition fees and exempting documents.

Please note that the fee cannot be refunded if you

• withdraw your residence permit application, or
• transfer to another higher education institution or
• give up the study place at Xamk for some other reason during the academic year.

The tuition fee is charged by the higher education institution and Xamk notifies the Finnish Immigration Service of the paid tuition fees. However, if you need a residence permit for the studies in Finland, you are required to have sufficient means and funds (9 600 euros for one study year) to support yourself during the studies in addition to paying the tuition fee.

For more information, see the Finnish Immigration Service website.

The Early Bird scholarship is a 10% discount on the tuition fee of the first study year at Xamk.

You can get the scholarship if you:

• accept the offer of admission from Xamk within 7 days from the admission notice, and
• pay the tuition fee within 21 days from the admission notice.

Please note that the Early Bird scholarship may not be available in all applications. The availability of the Early Bird scholarship and the exact deadlines are informed in the offer of admission.

During the studies, you can apply for a scholarship at the end of each study year and get a 20% discount on the following year’s tuition fee by progressing in the studies well.

Sufficient progress for the scholarship means completing 55 ECTS credits during the academic year, except in the degree programmes beginning in January where you need 27 ECTS credits from the first semester to qualify for the scholarship. Studies (credits) completed during the academic year are considered in the scholarship.

You are offered at least 60 ECTS credits of studies per academic year (1 August – 31 July), or 30 ECTS credits per academic semester (1 August – 31 December, 1 January – 31 July).

To encourage to be part of the Finnish society, students who qualify for the scholarship based on study progress, can reduce their following year’s tuition fee to up to 35% by being active in their local community.

During your studies you can be involved in various activities: be part of a locally operating association as a hobby instructor or a member of a hobby group, volunteer, take part in extracurricular activities by Xamk’s integration team, community and student union activities, as well as gain work experience.  

For each activity, you will get a certificate based on which the scholarship is awarded. You will get one point for 10 hours or participation in one activity, such as being part of a hobby group in a locally operating association. The maximum number of points for one activity is 4 (40 hours).* Points and scholarships are counted per academic year (1 August – 31 July).

* Tutoring for Student Union Kaakko includes 108 hours of work. Therefore, by being a tutor, you can complete 108 hours from one activity.

When you qualify for the scholarship based on study progress, and accumulate

• 10 points: your scholarship is 25% off from the following year’s tuition fee + bronze award certificate
• 20 points: your scholarship is 30% off + silver award certificate
• 30 points: your scholarship is 35% off + gold award certificate

If you started your studies in January, you would qualify for the Xamk award by accumulating 6, 8 or 12 points accordingly.

For more than four months of work, a minimum of 10 hours per week per average, you will be awarded five extra points. The workplace must be located in South Savonia or Kymenlaakso region. For work outside these regions, you will be awarded based on the standard formula.

All activities must be done in Finland.

The students who have collected the highest number of points will be publicly rewarded in an event organised annually. Xamk reserves the right to make changes and adjust the criteria. The total available scholarship will not change. Xamk reserves the right to verify the authenticity of each certificate of participation.

Additional deductions for the following academic year’s tuition fee are available also for studies you complete in Finnish language and culture. If you qualify for the scholarship based on study progress, you can also apply for scholarship based on the Finnish language and culture studies (studies completed during the academic year in question).

The additional scholarship you can apply for after each study year is worth 200 euros / 5 ECTS credits of studies completed in Finnish language and culture during your studies at Xamk.

Students in Bachelor’s programmes are generally offered 5-10 ECTS credits of Finnish language studies during their 1st and 2nd study years. These studies start from the beginner’s level and aim for the basic language proficiency levels A1 and A2. Students in Master’s degree programmes can also add Finnish language courses into their personal study plan.

If you reach the proficiency level intermediate B1 in Finnish language during your studies, you can get a 5000-euro scholarship upon graduation. Reaching this proficiency level requires you to be active in learning the language also outside the studies at Xamk.

You receive this scholarship upon graduation, when you have completed a national certificate of language proficiency (YKI) in Finnish language on the required proficiency level and attach a copy of the certificate to the scholarship application. Please see further information on the national certificate of language proficiency and the proficiency levels on the website of the Finnish National Agency for Education.

The YKI system is the official language proficiency test of Finland and the certificates serve a variety of purposes, for example to demonstrate your language skills to apply for a job in Finland.

Higher education institutions may grant, by their own decision, scholarships for humanitarian reasons, and the scholarship can be used to offset the tuition fee, meaning that the fee does not need to be paid.

Xamk offers a scholarship for humanitarian reasons for the citizens of Ukraine for the academic year 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. The scholarship is an exemption from the tuition fee for the mentioned academic year.

You don’t have to apply for the scholarship separately, it is granted automatically based on proof of citizenship on your application form (passport ID data page). On the application form on Studyinfo, you inform if you have a document that exempts you from the tuition fee. The question is common to all universities and the answer “I don’t have any of the above mentioned documents” will not cause any problems with the scholarship for humanitarian reasons at Xamk.

Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes

• Tuition fee for one academic year (two semesters):
  • Full price, 10 700 euros (bachelor) / 13 500 euros (master)
  • Final payment deadline for full tuition fee:
    • Rolling admission: within 3 weeks from admission, the exact deadline is given in the offer of admission.
    • Joint application: by 10 July 2025
  • Early Bird price (10% discount), 9 630 euros (bachelor) / 12 150 euros (master), condition: you accept the offer of admission within 1 week from admission and pay the tuition fee with discount within 3 weeks from admission.
• Scholarship application based on studies and activities during the academic year 2025-2026 submitted by 31 July 2026.  Submit the application already earlier if the required credit amount and Finnish language studies you have completed during the academic year have been registered, and all Xamk Award activities you want to be included in the application have been documented.
• The granted scholarships are deducted from the following year’s tuition fee. The fee to be paid for the following academic year is informed in the scholarship decision. Possible scholarships:
  • Scholarship based on study progress, 20% discount: tuition fee for the 2nd study year is 8 560 euros (bachelor) / 10 800 euros (master)
  • Scholarship based on study progress and 10 points for Xamk Award, 25% discount: tuition fee for the 2nd study year is 8 025 (bachelor) euros / 10 125 euros (master)
  • Scholarship based on study progress and 20 points for Xamk Award, 30% discount: tuition fee for the 2nd study year is 7 490 euros (bachelor) / 9 450 euros (master)
  • Scholarship based on study progress and 30 points for Xamk Award, 35% discount: tuition fee for the 2nd study year is 6 955 euros (bachelor) / 8 775 euros (master)
  • Additional deductions for acceptable Finnish language and culture studies: 200 euros / 5 credits.

Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes

• Tuition fee for one academic semester and payment deadline:
  • Full price, 5 350 euros (bachelor) / 6 750 euros (master), by 28 November 2024 or
  • Early Bird price (10% discount), 4 815 euros (bachelor) / 6 075 euros (master), by deadline given in the offer of admission. Note: Early Bird scholarship is not available in Joint application, autumn 2024.
• Scholarship application based on studies and activities during the academic year submitted by 31 July 2025.  Submit the application already earlier if the required credit amount and Finnish language studies you have completed during the academic year have been registered, and all Xamk Award activities you want to be included in the application have been documented.
• The granted scholarships are deducted from the following year’s tuition fee. The fee to be paid for the following academic year is informed in the scholarship decision. Possible scholarships:
  • Scholarship based on study progress, 20% discount: tuition fee for the 2nd study year is 8 560 euros (bachelor) / 10 800 euros (master)
  • Scholarship based on study progress and 6 points for Xamk Award, 25% discount: tuition fee for the 2nd study year is 8 025 (bachelor) euros / 10 125 euros (master)
  • Scholarship based on study progress and 8 points for Xamk Award, 30% discount: tuition fee for the 2nd study year is 7 490 euros (bachelor) / 9 450 euros (master)
  • Scholarship based on study progress and 12 points for Xamk Award, 35% discount: tuition fee for the 2nd study year is 6 955 euros (bachelor) / 8 775 euros (master)
  • Additional deductions for acceptable Finnish language and culture studies: 200 euros / 5 credits.