Hordes of joyful youngsters roaming around in the city wearing student caps and boiler suits. Roughly estimated, some ten per cent (70 000) - of Helsinki's population are students. And it shows. Helsinki Metropolitan area is home to three scientifically oriented universities, one with a focus on arts and one concentrating more on practical learning.
Universities in Helsinki
Around the Senate Square facing each other is the holy trinity of Finnish society. There is the government building, the Cathedral and of course – the main building of Helsinki University, founded already in 1640 originally in Turku.
Helsinki University
Rankings should not be taken as the ultimate truth, but according to latest estimates, Helsinki University is positioned among the top one per cent and top 100 in the listings worldwide.
Unfortunately, its four campuses are scattered around the city, but on the positive side is that the students have a presence from east to west. If something, the university is versatile encompassing eleven faculties. The subjects include almost everything from veterinary medicine to educational sciences, from physics to law, from theology to medicine.
The Finnish language is difficult to learn, and Helsinki may feel a little remote, but the university has turned itself from a national institution to an internationally attractive meeting place. Of its nearly 40 000 students, some six per cent have come from abroad and the number of exchange students enjoying an academic year is around one thousand.
The curriculum includes nowadays thirty-five International Master's Programmes where teaching is given in English. Roughly a quarter of teachers, doctoral trainees and postdoctoral researchers have other than Finnish background.
Next to Helsinki University, there are two recent newcomers born out of mergers, Aalto University and University of Arts (Uniarts).
Aalto University
Aalto University has become an umbrella for the now deceased the Helsinki School of Economics, the University of Art and Design and the University of Technology all of them dating from the 19th and early 20th century.
The big theme and idea behind this reincarnation in 2010 and their life together was to create a happy blending and interaction between the industrial design and business together with everything technological, engineering, ICT, architecture, digitalisation and energy solutions. Aalto's logic goes like this: Finland has been a country of engineers and design, but the business side has been an Achilles' heel. Linking these together should produce something more than the sum of its parts.
The nucleus and campus of Aalto university with some 12 000 students and around 400 professors is Otaniemi, situated in Espoo. The campus area just six metro stops from Helsinki City Centre is famous for its architecture and its designer, Alvar Aalto.
Hanken
For those wishing to study economics at the university level, there is also another option in Helsinki. Hanken is a Swedish speaking university with departments for finance, marketing, accounting, management and commercial law. Master's Degree programmes are available also in English.
University of the Arts Helsinki
Two art forms have had a special place in Finland – classical music and theatre. Accompanying them was painting which had its golden era in the late 19th century with the rise of Finnish nationalism. In the field of music, the country has gained reputation thanks to Jean Sibelius and currently thanks to many conductors. And when it comes to theatre, there's a myriad of amateur groups. The Finns may be quiet, but on stage, they come alive.
Before Helsinki had three art universities, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Sibelius Academy, and Theatre Academy. Since the beginning of 2013, they have been administratively under the same roof as The University of the Arts Helsinki.
Of three now united, Sibelius Academy has the widest international reputation. Not least because of the Maj Lind piano competition organised by the Academy. The winner of the competition, organised next time in 2022, has a runway to global concert halls. But, the Academy also has other things to offer, from jazz to opera, from church music to composing.
The Theatre Academy has degree programmes not only in acting, directing and dramaturgy, but also in dance, in sound and lighting design and pedagogy. Obviously, the Academy of Fine Arts offers studies in painting, sculpture, printmaking and time and space arts.
Haaga-Helia
In case you have a less theoretical and academic approach to studies the one place you might consider is Haaga-Helia, University of Applied Sciences in Finland. It offers more practical tuition, but also a route to academic degrees. Haaga-Helia has premises around the town, even if the main campus is in the east.
There are forty BA programmes of which eight are in English. The subjects include, for example, hotel, leisure and restaurant management, IT and journalism. Applying is possible in January and in September, and there is an examination taking place in Finland.
Enrolment conditions in Helsinki universities and fees
The main rule concerning expenses is that fees are charged from those outside the EU, European Economic Area and Switzerland. The fees vary from one education institution to another. There is also a fee charged from BA and MA students who are not studying in Finnish or Swedish. Again EU/EEA area and Swiss citizens are not charged.
Application criteria and enrolment procedures vary. It is best to contact the institutions directly.
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