The Government is pushing through fee-based open university degrees: Tampere University reluctant

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The Finnish Government is preparing a proposal that would allow any higher education degree to be completed through fee-based open university education. President of Tampere University Keijo Hämäläinen tells Visiiri that Tampere University has shown little enthusiasm for the proposal.

“We haven’t been too keen on getting on board with this. On the contrary, degree programmes have raised concerns about the problems that the proposal might cause.”

At present, it is possible to complete fee-based open university studies that can be credited towards a degree. However, only those who have been granted the right to pursue a degree at a university through an entrance examination or certificate-based admissions have been able to obtain a full degree.

If the government proposal is implemented, the legislative amendments would come into effect in August 2028. Universities would have the right to choose whether to offer fee-based degrees.

According to Hämäläinen, Tampere University is not planning to offer fee-based degrees, at least for the time being.

Student unions across Finland have responded negatively to the government proposal. The Student Union of Tampere University, Trey, published a statement in June in which it strongly opposes granting open universities the right to award degrees.

Inequality in many forms

Issues with the government proposal have been discussed particularly from the perspective of equality.

“The proposal would alter the equality landscape in Finnish education. In highly competitive fields, the problem is that admission would be based either on merit or on money,” Keijo Hämäläinen says. Trey notes in its statement that the proposal would increase inequality among applicants by allowing financially capable students to circumvent the university admissions system. The Student Union also raises concerns about the government’s plans to exclude open university students from student financial aid and student health services.

Furthermore, Trey questions the rationale behind the proposal’s stated objectives to support continuous learning, as the proposal is targeted at both those seeking advanced expertise and those aiming for their first degree.

Tampere University also recommends that the proposal be refined so that it specifically targets adults with more substantial work experience, rather than young people pursuing their first degree.

“In my view, continuous learning and pursuing one’s first higher education degree should not compete for the same money,” argues Hämäläinen.

How much would an open university degree cost?

Estimates of tuition costs for open university degrees have been made on the basis of the annual tuition fees paid by international students.

At Tampere University, international students pay the following fees per academic year in 2026:

For bachelor’s programmes: €10,000
For master’s programmes: €12,000

So, for a student completing a five-year degree programme, the full package would cost 54,000 euros.