Tuition fees

Tuition fees at Uniarts Helsinki are applicable to bachelor and master students who study in English and who are not citizens of EU, EEA, or Switzerland.

Published 29.10.2019 | Updated 3.3.2026

About the tuition fee and other financial requirements

Tuition fee for students starting in August 2026 or later: € 28,000 per academic year. The university does not grant any scholarships to cover the tuition fee for students starting in August 2026 or later.
Who has to pay: Non-EU and non-EEA students studying for a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in English.
The amount of the fee will stay the same for the statutory duration of your degree studies.
Collecting tuition fees is a statutory obligation for universities in Finland. The fee entitles you to participate in teaching.
Uniarts Helsinki does not grant scholarships for living expenses.
In Finland you must take responsibility for supporting yourself financially. Please note that it is often difficult for a student to find work in Finland, especially in the beginning of the studies. Before you come to Finland, make sure that your finances will be sufficient for the entire period of your studies. Read more about the sufficient funds on the Finnish Immigration Service web sites: Income requirement for students.
You will need private insurance for your residence permit to cover your medical expenses. As a student you will be responsible for your illness-related expenses in Finland.

Liability to pay tuition fees

Pursuant to the Finnish Universities Act (section 10), universities must charge an annual tuition fee to students admitted to a bachelor’s or master’s degree programme taught in a language other than Finnish or Swedish. A student who has registered as attending for the academic year is liable to pay the tuition fee. A non-attending student is not liable to pay the tuition fee.

No tuition fees are charged:

to a citizen of a state belonging to the European Economic Area or to a person who is deemed comparable to a European Union citizen under European treaties or under treaty signed by the European Union and its Member States with a third party or to a person who has been granted an EU Blue Card under the act on highly skilled workers, or to a family member of the above-mentioned individuals or that of a Finnish citizen;
to a person who holds a long-term resident’s EU residence permit for third-country nationals, as referred to in the Aliens Act, or a permanent residence permit, or to the family member of such a person;
to a holder of a continuous residence permit referred to in the Aliens Act who has been granted the permit on grounds other than studies at the time of their first residence permit to Finland, or to the family member of such a person;
to a person who, at the start of their studies, held a residence permit on the basis of temporary protection as referred to in the Aliens Act, and whose permit has not subsequently been cancelled under section 58, subsection 4 of that Act;
to a student participating in commissioned education; or
to an Erasmus Mundus scholarship holder studying in an Erasmus Mundus programme funded by the European Union.

You are exempted from paying tuition fees if you have one of the following documents:

Passport (or identity card) to indicate the citizenship of EU/EEA/Switzerland
EU Blue Card in Finland
Continuous residence permit in Finland, Type A permit issued for purposes other than studies
However, you are required to pay tuition fees in the following cases:
– If your first residence permit in Finland was granted for the purpose of studying, you are required to pay tuition fees, even if you later obtained a continuous residence permit (type A) on other grounds.
– If you have a continuous residence permit (type A) based on family ties, and your family member originally came to Finland on a residence permit granted for studying, you are also required to pay tuition fees.
EU Family Member’s Residence Card in Finland
EU residence permit for third-country citizens with long-term residence permit card in Finland (Type P-EU)
Permanent residence permit card in Finland, Type P permit
Brexit residence permit card in Finland, Type SEU = Right of residence under the withdrawal agreement, or P SEU = Right of permanent residence under the withdrawal agreement
Residence permit card on the basis of temporary protection in Finland

Amount of the tuition fee

In accordance with the Universities Act (section 10), the university must charge students who have begun their studies on or after 1 August 2026 for at least the costs arising from the organising of the education per academic year. The university’s annual tuition fee revenue must cover the costs of providing education for fee-paying students, including any scholarships and other financial support granted to the students.

The amount of the tuition fee at Uniarts Helsinki is 28,000 euros per academic year at both the bachelor’s and master’s stage of studies starting from 1 August 2026. The university does not have a scholarship programme related to the full-cost tuition fee.

The tuition fee for students who begin their studies before 1 August 2026 will remain the same (5,000 euros for students who began their studies between 1 August 2017 and 31 December 2024 and 12,000 euros for students who begin their studies between 1 January 2025 and 31 July 2026). Uniarts Helsinki has a waiver programme related to tuition fees, and it is only applied to students who have been granted the right to study at Uniarts Helsinki before 1 August 2026. The waiver programme will be terminated by 31 July 2030.

The tuition fee will remain the same for the student’s statutory maximum duration of studies.

Payment of tuition fees

New students

An applicant who is deemed liable to pay tuition fees must pay the tuition fee required from them in connection with accepting an offer of admission before being able to enrol as attending.

The student must pay the tuition fee for their first academic year in a single instalment, except in cases where they have a statutory reason to register as non-attending for one or both academic terms. The same rule applies to fee-paying students who begin their studies on 1 January. Their first-year tuition fee covers a calendar year instead of an academic year.

Continuing students

Students who are liable to pay the tuition fee must pay the tuition fee before registering as attending. It is possible to register for one academic term at a time, but in this case, the student must take into consideration how the registration status may affect their residence permit. The student must pay the full tuition fee for the specific academic term when they will be an attending student before the registration period for that academic term ends.

Registration deadlines are determined in the rector’s decision on Uniarts Helsinki’s regulations on enrolment and registration.

The tuition fee invoice is sent to the student before the registration period for the academic year begins.

If a student who is liable to pay the tuition fee has registered for non-attendance and wants to change their status from non-attending to attending in the middle of the academic term, they must pay the full amount of the tuition fee for the academic term in question.

The academic affairs teams provide guidance on how to pay tuition fees, and also monitor the payment of tuition fees.

You cannot pay the tuition fee in several installments. The whole fee is to be paid by the deadline.

Uniarts bank details (your individual reference number is in your invoice)

Recipient: Taideyliopisto
Receiver bank: OP Corporate Bank Plc (Gebhardinaukio 1, FI-00510 Helsinki)
Account number (IBAN): FI4050000120288237
BIC/SWIFT: OKOYFIHH

Exemption from tuition fees and refunds

If a student’s residence permit status changes before graduation, the changed status is taken into consideration when deciding on the requirement to pay tuition fees. A student may be entitled to exemption from tuition fees if they are granted a residence permit that is one of the permits that warrant an exemption in accordance with the Universities Act. Students must inform the university without delay if their status changes.

If a student’s language of studies changes to Finnish or Swedish, they will no longer have to pay annual tuition fees. The student can apply for a change of language of the degree from the academy dean in accordance with the language requirements laid down in the admissions criteria that are valid within the academy at the time of application. The student completes the remaining required studies by using the language that they requested as the new language of the degree. A student may only apply to have their language of studies changed if the degree and instruction of the degree programme is offered also in Finnish or Swedish, they have the possibility to complete over half of the degree in Finnish or Swedish and they have reached the necessary proficiency level in the new language in which they will study.

If, after the language change, the student is no longer liable to pay the tuition fee, the status of the student’s liability to pay tuition fees will change starting from the beginning of the next academic year. Having the status change take affect during an ongoing academic term is possible only during the registration period for the academic year. An exemption that has been applied for and granted after the registration period will take effect starting from the next academic term. If the student is no longer liable to pay the tuition fee and they have already paid the tuition fee for the next academic term/academic year, the fee will be refunded to the student. If an exemption takes effect after the start date of the academic term but during the registration period, the exemption is valid starting from the academic term in question and the tuition fee for the academic term in question will be refunded. Tuition fees are not refunded for past academic terms or for the current academic term once the registration period has ended.

New students have their own registration deadlines, but the general registration deadline applies to even new students in regard to tuition fee exemption and tuition fee refunds.

The tuition fee is always refunded if the student was admitted conditionally and the conditions are not met, or if the student receives a negative residence permit decision and has not completed any studies.

If a student’s residence permit that would exempt them from paying the tuition fee has expired and the extension permit has not been resolved before the registration deadline for the academic term, the student is considered liable to pay the fee and the tuition fee must be paid. The student is exempted from the tuition fee when they present a valid residence permit, provided that their permit history still entitles them to the exemption. If the student presents the permit entitling them to an exemption after the registration period has ended, the exemption will take effect from the beginning of the next academic term.

Graduation or renouncement of the right to study in the middle of the academic term does not entitle the student to a refund of the tuition fee for the academic term in question.

A student who has changed their status from attending to non-attending during the registration period has the right to be refunded for the tuition fee of the academic term in question.

If a student has paid the tuition fee and registered for the academic term following the academic term when they graduated and they no longer have a valid right to complete a degree at the university, the student is entitled to a refund for the tuition fee that they have paid for the academic term in question.

If a student has renounced their right to study but registered for the academic term following the renouncement and also paid the tuition fee, the student is entitled to a refund for the tuition fee that they have paid for the academic term in question.

Requests for a tuition fee refund are addressed to the academic affairs team.

Contact information for applicants

Contact the Admissions Office of the academy you are applying to:

Academy of Fine Arts: kuva.admissions@uniarts.fi
Sibelius Academy: siba.admissions@uniarts.fi
Theatre Academy: teak.admissions@uniarts.fi

Contact information for Uniarts students and staff

tuitionfees@uniarts.fi