The four-party alliance government led by Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) has taken an initiative to impose tuition fees non-European Union students in upper secondary level.
The government issued a legislative proposal on the matter on Thursday and intended that the legislative amendments will enter into force on August 1, 2026, said the Ministry of Education and Culture in a press release.
Students from non-EU countries will in future be required to pay tuition fees in both general upper secondary education and vocational education and training.
These students will therefore no longer be included in the system of central government transfers to local government.
At the same time, providers of vocational education and training will be permitted to sell commissioned education leading to a qualification also to citizens of EU Member States and EEA countries.
The proposal concerning tuition fees, however, will not apply to non-EU nationals who are permanently residents in the EEA, nor to exchange students arriving under established programmes who will not be completing a full qualification or the full general upper secondary syllabus.
Persons granted temporary protection will also be exempted from the fees, in the same way as in higher education.
Students do not need to pay tuition fees if they attend apprenticeship training in vocational education and training and have a residence permit based on work.
The legislative proposal will also clarify the Act on Compulsory Education so that it will not apply to persons from non-EU countries residing in Finland for the purpose of study.
Amendments to the Act on Vocational Education and Training and to the Act on General Upper Secondary Education will introduce provisions granting education providers the right to access information on the residence-permit status of applicants and students, as well as the right of education providers to provide such information proactively to the Finnish Immigration Service.
In future, the granting of a residence permit for the purpose of study will be conditional on payment of the fees determined by the education provider.
The proposal is linked to the programme of the present four-party government.
Under the programme, providers of vocational education and training will be permitted to sell commissioned education leading to a qualification to citizens of EU Member States and EEA countries, in the same way as higher education institutions.
The introduction of tuition fees is based on the government’s decisions to reduce municipal regulation and increase revenue from fees, as well as on the decision taken in the spending limits discussion of spring 2025.
The proposal is connected to the government’s budget proposal for 2026 and is intended to be considered in connection with it.
In May, 2024 The government proposed amendments to the Universities Act and the Universities of Applied Sciences Act with the view to introduce full tuition and application fees for non-European Union (EU) and non- European Economic Area (EEA) students.
Earlier in August 2023, the four-party alliance government has started an initiative to increase the tuition fees for non-European Union and non- European Economic Area (EEA) university students.
Education was free in Finland until the government introduced tuition fees for the non-EU students in the university level in 2017.
- Finland
- Tuition fees
- Non-EU students
- Upper secondary
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
