Tuition
- If you are a non-EU/EEA student applying to an English-taught Master's degree program in order to complete a full degree at a Finnish institution, you will be required to pay tuition (app. 4 000 - 21 000 USD/year).
- Finnish universities provide scholarships for tuition for those required to pay tuition. Also, the Fulbright Finland Foundation awards funded in partnership with Finnish universities include a full-tuition scholarship as part of the Fulbright grantee benefit package (please see further information on the university-specific award webpages).
- In Finland, tuition fees are not charged for doctoral studies, or degree courses offered in Finnish or Swedish. Exchange students are usually not charged tuition fees, either.
- Please see more details on tuition fees and university-provided scholarships on the Study in Finland website and on university websites.
- The student is responsible for finding out if fees apply and for covering fee costs.
Budgeting
- Please find living cost information on the Study in Finland website and on university websites.
- We have also collected from the Fulbright U.S. student alumni living cost information on the Foundation's website.
- Please note that whether your status at the Finnish university entitles you to student-discounted meals, travel, and housing, has a significant effect on your total budget. For example, doctoral students are not entitled to subsidized meals, travel discounts, low-cost student housing, or Student Health Services. Thus, make sure you find out what benefits you will be entitled to as a student in Finland by contacting your host university’s International Office well before arriving in Finland.
“A healthy couple of dollars hot student meals available on Finnish campuses and the affordable student housing truly lowers students' living cost in Finland” - U.S. university representative visiting Finnish campuses
Funding Second-Year Living Costs as a Master's Student
According to alumni, the top funding sources for the second year of studies are:
- employment during your studies
- additional scholarships or grants from the university
- previous savings
“If you want to do research at the university, contact a professor early on and then follow up when summer applications open. I used my Fulbright professor contact and believe this greatly influenced me getting the job.” -Master’s Grantee on finding employment during their study period.
While your Fulbright Grant would still cover the tuition fees for your second year of study, it does not include the living stipend for the second year. To provide information on how previous grantees have funded their second-year living costs, the Foundation gathered data during spring 2022 via a survey of recent graduates in Finland on the theme. Some of the survey data and recommendations from the previous U.S. student grantees are below.
The majority of respondents (87.5%) supported the living costs of their second year of study, at least in part, via employment during their program. Commonly given advice by the alumni was to look for employment early and to use your contacts and network at the university to find employment. Note that the difficulty in finding employment during the program can vary depending on which city you pursue your studies in.
Others were able to attain additional scholarships or grants from their university of study based on factors such as their academic achievements during their first year. Since the scholarships awarded by each university are unique, it is recommended that you research your prospective university to see what potential awards are available and ask about these opportunities directly from the university.
Half of the respondents said they also relied on previous savings to support living costs during the second year of their study. This was especially true when the alumni talked about personal costs like travel and going out with friends.
While you should have some sort of a plan for managing your expenses for the second year of study, the survey shows that you don’t need to stress too much about it ahead of time. 75% of alumni respondents reported having only a tentative or vague plan for how they would manage to fund themselves during this time period. Reaching out online to some Fulbright Finland Foundation alumni from these programs is also likely to be helpful in providing you with firsthand, direct advice regarding your situation.
