Higher Education in Finland

Orientation Program for American Fulbright Grantees

Senior Advisor Eeva KaunismaaDepartment for Higher Education and Science PolicyAugust, 2014

Government Priorities

In education• Finland the most competent nation in 2020• Reduction of gender differences in learning outcomes,

participation and completion of education• Equal opportunities and rights to free quality education• To ensure the availability of the workforce, especially in key

educational, health and welfare services• Guidance and counselling at all levels of education• All primary school leavers will be guaranteed a study place• To adapt the network of educational institutions to

demographic trends

Government Programme on Higher Education and Science

• Quality, efficiency and internationalisation of HE

• Polytechnic Reform (legal status, funding, administration)

• Each province in Finland will have at least one higher education institution.

• The establishment of a university for the arts will be promoted.

• Access to higher education studies will be made smoother for example by reforming student selection.

• Policy on the national research infrastructure will be promoted.

Towards a more dynamic HE and research system

Higher Education

Reform

University reform

Polytechnic reform

Structural development

Reform of the Science

and Research NetworkComprehensive reform of state

research institutes and research

funding

Renewal of the approach of the Finnish Academy

Reinforcement of research

infrastructures

Other Developmen

t

Towards more stimulating funding

models

Vocational reform

Structural policy programme

Selected Higher Education Factsabout Finland

• Population of 5,4 million• Higher education institution

network covers the populated parts of the country– 14 universities – 24 polytechnics

• Student enrollment altogether ca. 316 000– ca. 20 000 doctoral students – about 1600 doctoral

degrees/year (> 50 % female)

• EU member state since 1995

University (blue)Polytechnic (green)Research institute (red)

Key Features of the Finnish Higher Education System

• "Open and equal access" for all

• Extensive network of HE institutions covering the whole country– Regional equality

• Tuition free system with minor exceptions

The Finnish Higher Education System• The Finnish higher education system comprises two parallel

sectors:– University sector

• 14 research universities• Student enrollment 114 000, annual intake ~ 20 000• Independent legal persons with majority of funding through State

budget

– Polytechnic sector (established in the mid-1990s)• 24 institutions• Student enrollment 113 500, annual intake ~ 26 500 • Institutions partly funded by the state, partly by municipalities• Regional development tasks• Bachelor degrees (vocational and professional degrees)• (Professional) Master’s degrees in selected fields

• The whole HE system provides study places for 65-70% of an age group

The University Reform 2010 The New University ActAims and means of the university reform• To give the universities a stronger financial and

administrative autonomy, they were made independent legal persons (instead of State accounting offices) and supplied with sufficient capital.

• As legal persons, the universities are better able to operate with the surrounding society.

• Universities took the place of the State as employers: civil-service employment relationships contractual employment relationships

• Measures are taken to ensure continued international competitiveness of the university system.

The Polytechnic Reform

• To give the polytechnics a stronger position to meet the changing needs of the working life, society and regions

• As independent legal persons polytechnics will have more independent status and more flexibility to better respond to the needs of the surrounding society

• Stronger strategic competence, profiling, focus area choises, stronger leadership and ability to decision making

• To enhance the quality and effectiveness of teaching and RDI

• To strengthen their role within the innovation system

• To ensure international competitiveness of the polytechnic system

First Phase• The operating licences and the educational

responsibilities revised• The grounds and criteria for funding will take into

consideration the polytechnics´ statutory operations in their entirety, with emphasis on quality, impact and efficiency.

• The first phase of the reform took effect on 1 January 2014 (amendments to legislation) concerning:– new funding model – new operating licences – updated educational responsibilities

Second Phase• The polytechnics and the organisations running

them to merge into one legal person, and juridically all the polytechnics become limited companies – the governance model to be streamlined so that the

polytechnics only have one, joint governing board

• The responsibility for core funding to be entirely transferred to the state

• Government capitalization of the polytechnics• The second phase of the reform is expected to take

effect on 1 January 2015

Photo: Sara Djupsund