Education body: Dramatic rise in applications for English-language degree courses
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Loading... - Lily Pickford
- 21 Jan 2022
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Finnish institutes of higher education have received 10,000 more applications for study places on English-language courses compared to last year, with nursing programmes proving to be particularly popular.
The number of students applying to study English-language degree programmes at universities and polytechnics in Finland has increased significantly this year compared to 2021, according to a report published on Thursday by the Finnish National Agency for Education.
In total, over 33,000 people applied for a place on courses that begin in the autumn. Last year, that figure was just over 22,000.
The most popular English-language programmes during this application period, which closed on Wednesday, proved to be the Bachelor of Health Care (Nursing) courses.
The largest number of applications were received by the nursing course at JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, with some 2,285 hopeful applicants vying for admission. This means that there are 57 applicants for each study place on the course.
The odds of getting a place on a similar course at the Novia University of Applied Sciences near the city of Vaasa are even longer, with 70 applicants battling it out for each available place after the institution also received over 2,000 applications.
Competition for places on arts courses will also be hard-fought, with 1,151 applicants choosing the University of the Arts Helsinki's acting course as their first option. The course offers just 12 starting places.
Studying remotely from Nigeria, Sri Lanka
Many of the applicants for English-language degree courses are hoping to come to study in Finland from abroad, with the majority applying from outside the EU and the EEA.
This was also the case last year as, for example, less than half of students who received a place on one of the University of Tampere's English degrees programmes were Finnish citizens.
Coming to study in Finland means a huge lifestyle change for many students, and the Covid pandemic has further exacerbated those challenges.
Dhanushi Srinivasan from Sri Lanka and James Afolaranmi from Nigeria are studying in the University of Tampere's popular Science and Engineering bachelor's programme. Due to the pandemic, both students had to begin their studies remotely.
Afolaranmi started the course in autumn 2020 while still in Nigeria, and studied remotely until the spring of 2021.
"I studied from Nigeria while my fellow students were here in Finland. I missed the learning environment and the student community. It wasn't very easy," he told Yle, adding that an intermittent internet connection added further to his difficulties.
He was therefore very pleased to finally arrive in Finland in March 2021. Read More…
