Concerns Grow Among Finnish Students Over Paid Education Models
The Finnish government’s proposal to authorise open universities to award degrees has sparked serious concern among student unions across the country. At present, only universities that admit students through entrance examinations or academic transcripts are permitted to grant degrees. In contrast, open universities allow anyone to enrol in courses for a fee. Under the new proposal, it would become possible to complete a full-time undergraduate degree at a fee-based open university.
Petra Pulli, President of the Student Union at the University of Helsinki, stated that the proposal would open the door to making university education fee-based. She argued that the coexistence of free and paid programmes would provoke debates over inequality and injustice in education. Student unions have stressed that free education is one of the foundational pillars of Finnish society, warning that the proposed change could exacerbate social inequality and potentially compromise the quality of education.
Conversely, Kai Nordlund, Vice-Rector of the University of Helsinki, welcomed the proposal and expressed the university’s intention to proceed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture. He noted that it would be assessed whether degree programmes would be suitable for all fields and emphasised that students’ views would also be taken into consideration.
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