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Before arrival

Greetings from the President:

Dear new student,

I’d like to congratulate you once more for receiving a study place at Karelia UAS. You can be satisfied and happy with your choice.

I sincerely hope that you get on well, give feedback and take actively part in the conversation making our education and research community even better. Furthermore, I wish that you would join POKA student union to make a contribution to student life and the development of our university.

Life, especially student life, is not just about education and studies, but should also encompass relaxation and free-time activities. I’m confident that North Karelia as a region and Joensuu as an attractive student city can provide you with a context for stimulating studies and meaningful leisure activities.

Do also keep in mind that the entrance exam is often the toughest of all tests and examinations. Once you’ve now been admitted and continue to work hard, your studies will surely progress well and the university degree and your place in working life will soon come into view.

Enjoy your studies!

Petri Raivo
President

Accept the study place via MyStudyinfo.
You can confirm the study place electronically with the link in the email you have received from Studyinfo.fi (email: [email protected]). If you cannot accept the offer electronically, please contact Karelia UAS Admission Services ([email protected]).

Note! You can only accept one study place per term!
Please find more information: One study place per term provision

Note! Accepting a study place is a binding choice, and you cannot cancel or change your choice later. When you accept a study place bindingly, all the other higher education study programmes you have applied to in the joint or separate applications will automatically be cancelled.

In order to benefit the Early Bird discount:

  • pay the tuition fee within 20 days from the offer and
  • accept the study place within 7 days from the offer.

You can find more information about Karelia UAS’ tuition fees, scholarships and refund policy here:
Tuition fee and scholarship system
Refund policy

Once new students have paid their tuition fee, they’ll be invited to join the Karelia UAS Admissions and Integration Services WhatsApp community. This space is designed to help you connect with fellow students, ask questions, share tips, and support one another as you begin your journey at Karelia.

Joining the WhatsApp community is completely voluntary—you’re free to decide whether or not you’d like to participate.

Admission office will enroll you as a present student for future academic year, when you have:

  • accepted the offered study place
  • your tuition fee payment received and
  • your eligibility verified

If you plan to enroll as an absent, notify Admissions right away.
More information about registration: Registration information

The admission is conditional until Karelia UAS has verified all the educational certificates related to your application and your tuition fee payment has received. Please, bring your educational certificates used in your application with you. The certificates are checked and verified when you arrive to campus.

Students coming from countries outside of the European Union (and staying for more than 3 months) need a residence permit. Start the residence permit application process after receiving the decision on the student admission. Step-by-step information on the residence permit application process can be found on the Finnish Immigration Service website. Get familiar with the Guide for students for further information. 

In addition to the residence permit, a student from a non-EU country needs to have valid health insurance issued by a reliable company or institution. Non-EU students who are studying in Finland in a full-time degree programme for a minimum of two years need health insurance that covers medical costs. Read more about the insurance requirements here. 

Students accepted to degree-leading studies: If you do not get your residence permit by the beginning of studies you should send to [email protected] the Migri’s confirmation that your application has been sent and is under processing. 

Citizens of the EU/EEA are not required to obtain a residence permit. However, they must register their right of residence upon arriving in Finland. The registration application for EU citizens should be filed within three months from the date of arrival. For detailed instructions on how to register your right of residence, please refer to the information provided by Migri on EU citizen registration. 

In order to apply for accommodation, you need to contact the Student Housing Company, Joensuun Elli. Elli is a private company owned by the City of Joensuu. It offers affordable accommodation to students around the city. There are studios and shared flats. To increase your chances at getting accommodation, submit your application immediately. 

Read the application instructions on Joensuu Elli website. Fill in the application form online and attach a copy of the Notification of decision on student admission to it. It is a compulsory attachment to the application. 

There is a free laundry room and a public sauna in every housing unit. Private sauna turn or parking space for a car can be reserved for an extra fee. 

Contact information 

Student Housing Company Joensuun Elli 
Merimiehenkatu 30 
Tel. +358 13 337 7800 
E-mail [email protected] 
Website: https://www.joensuunelli.fi/en/ 

Information on housing and renting an apartment in Finland

Private companies (some pages may be only in Finnish)

  • Live Foundation in Niinivaara, near the Tikkarinne campus, contact [email protected]
  • You can also search for available privately rented apartments on regional Facebook groups (Vuokra-asunnot Joensuun seutu – Rental apartments in Joensuu, Finland & Vuokra-asunnot Joensuu).

Hotels and hostels for a longer stay

Most exchange students live in a shared flat where they have a private room and they share kitchen, bathroom and toilet with 1-3 other students. Exchange students are usually accommodated in a room which has basic furniture: a bed and a mattress, a desk, a chair and a wardrobe. However, there are no curtains, rugs, linen, dishes, cutlery, etc. in the flats. 

Rent for a room in a shared flat is about 200 – 350 euros/month. The rent includes electricity, heating and water. In the furnished flats, a furniture fee of 19 euros is added to the rent. Please mention in your application that you apply for a furnished room! 

A “Survival Pack” can be rented from the Student Union POKA. The Survival Pack includes some necessities, mainly dishes. Or, there are quite many flea markets in Joensuu as well. 

The average cost for a single student would be minimum of 700-800 euros per month. Since international students can work in Finland only on a restricted basis and part-time jobs are rare in Joensuu, one should not count on financing studies by working. 

Exchange students at Karelia University of Applied Sciences are not required to pay tuition fees. Students are required to pay only for the optional study tours and study materials (handouts, books, printed materials, practical work manuals, copies, etc.). 

Students who are enrolled in an institution of higher education are entitled to several student benefits by presenting their student card. In order to get a student card, you need to join the POKA student union of Karelia UAS. Please note that an ISIC card (International Student Card) does not entitle you to all of the student benefits in Finland. 

  • Make sure that you are aware of all the possible student reductions and other reductions available and compare the prices. Ask the Student Union for a complete list of places that offer student reductions by showing your Student Card and get tips from fellow Finnish students. Please notice that the open market place (tori) is not necessarily the cheapest place to buy food in Finland as it is in some other countries. 
  • Use the possibility to eat lunch at student price on campuses – the meals are tasty, well-balanced and substantial. 
  • Check rummage sales and flea markets for inexpensive second-hand goods and furniture. To find bargains, you should look for ALE or TARJOUS signs which indicate sales or special offers. The flea markets are also worth visiting (cheap second-hand clothes, kitchenware, books, etc.). They are popular among all the students. 
  • Take advantage of offerings of Sykettä Joensuu university sports 

Read more on fees and costs on Study in Finland webpage. 

Students at Karelia University of Applied Sciences will receive a username (Karelia ID) for the duration of their right to study. The online study environment and tools require you to log in with your username and password. Basically, you will need your user account for almost everything digital at the Karelia UAS.  

When using your Karelia account, you also agree to protect your username and password and keep them confidential. The user account can be used only for appropriate purposes and you must follow the IT rules (www.karelia.fi/it-saannot) of Karelia UAS and its partners, such as the Finnish trust network of higher education and Funet (Finnish University and Research Network). Every user, including you as a student of Karelia UAS, is obliged to follow the binding guidelines and rules.  

Each user’s identity will be verified before the user ID is activated.  There are two ways for activation the Karelia ID. Activation depends on whether you have a Finnish personal identity number and the ability to use it to identify yourself strongly. 

Karelia UAS will invite you to verify your identity in Candour Portal.  Karelia’s IT support services will send you your KareliaID to your personal e-mail. Therefore, you must have access to the email account you have given to Karelia in your student application/acceptance. 

After successful identification, you can change the password for your KareliaID.

In case you do not receive a personal email from Karelia IT Helpdesk before the start of your studies, or if you have any questions or cannot verify your identity, please contact IT Helpdesk [email protected].

Register your username at https://userid.karelia.fi 

  • Click on “Continue” and select next Don’t know your account?  Identify with your Finnish bank ID or a mobile ID. 
  • Write down your 7-digit username (Karelia ID) you see on the website. 
  • Change the password (check the password requirements). 
  • You will use this username and password to access all Karelia’s online systems. 

Tip! If you forget your username or password, you can always visit this site to check your username and reset your password. 

Information about using Karelia account is available https://www.karelia.fi/en/karelia-id/.  

Activate your username as soon as possible after you receive the instructions.  

NOTE! If you get an error message saying that you do not have rights to a Karelia UAS ID, try again the next day. Your username is generated the day after your information has been submitted into the system. Contact the Student Services ([email protected]) if you continue to get the same error message. The Student Services will check your right to study. 

Before you can use M365 services or Moodle, you need to set up multi-factor authentication.

After activating your username, set up multi-factor authentication for your account. Most of Karelia’s electronic services require multi-factor authentication. 

  • Watch and follow the instructions in the instruction video. 
  • Download and install the free Microsoft Authenticator app to your phone from the app store of your phone 
  • Connect your username (Karelia ID) and your phone’s authenticator app at https://aka.ms/mfasetup 
  • Set up multi-factor authentication also via SMS to ensure its function. 

NOTE! If you are unable to install the Authenticator app on your phone, you can set up the multi-factor authentication with SMS codes as instructed in this video. 

NOTE! After setting up MFA and your phone or phone number will change, you must update your MFA settings before the change. You can update a new phone number or re-register Authenticator for a new phone at http://aka.ms/mfasetup. If you are unable to update the settings, please contact Karelia IT Helpdesk. 

NOTE! When using Karelia’s website, online learning environments and tools, please avoid using the browser’s translation tools as they often provide inaccurate translations. Always choose the English or Finnish version of our services. This way, you can better follow our instructions and videos. 

Moodle is Karelia’s online learning environment.

Please note that Moodle requires multi-factor authentication, if you log in from outside of Karelia’s network.
After logging in, you will see your course materials on the Moodle dashboard when you start the courses. 
You can search and join courses you have signed up for by using the “Search courses” search on the front page.  

NOTE! If you get an error referring to another organization when you try to login, please try the following: Open a new private/Incognito/InPrivate window and login to Moodle at https://m.karelia.fi. 
Alternatively you can clear your browser session and cookies or use another browser. 

Peppi is a study information system used in Karelia. As a student, you have access to Peppi’s student desk. In Peppi, you plan your studies, monitor your progress, register for implementations and academic year, and review your own contact information. 

Microsoft 365 (M365) is a cloud service with the advantage of being independent of the device or place; you can use the service on a computer or a mobile device anywhere as long as you have access to internet. The M365 services for students include e.g. OneDrive cloud storage and Office Online applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) that run in a web browser. 

Microsoft 365’s email service (Outlook) contains your email, contacts, and calendar.

At Karelia UAS you will use your own computer for your studies. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) means that you can utilise study materials, online learning environment and Karelia IC system at home.   

You must have your own laptop which you will use for studying both at the university and at home. You can connect your laptop and mobile devices to the wireless network on all campuses of Karelia UAS. 

Check out Karelia’s guidelines for purchasing a laptop – Bring Your Own Device and get familiar with the Wireless network from Student Intra Pakki. 

Note! Chromebook computers are not compatible with Karelia UAS studies! 

Pakki Student Intra gives you current and important information related to studying, studies, services, benefits and rights. Open https://kareliauas.sharepoint.com/sites/StudentIntra and log in using [email protected] (example [email protected]). IT instructions you find at Data Systems> IT Services home page. 

If you have problems  
related to information technology, please contact IT Helpdesk:  

E-mail: [email protected]. Please remember to include your contact information and a detailed description of the problem!  
Tel. 013 260 6116 (phone service hours are on working days Mo – Fr 12.00 – 14.00) 
Only for urgent problems or problems requiring immediate attention! 
 
related to studies, please contact the Student Services [email protected]. See service hours and more details here. 

As you begin this new chapter, we want to ensure you are fully prepared for success from day one. As you prepare for your upcoming courses, we have assembled a comprehensive pre-arrival course package to help you get off to a flying start. This pre-arrival course package is designed to enable you to embark on your academic journey at Karelia UAS independently before the commencement of the academic semester. 

You can choose how many courses from this package to complete. The courses you complete will count as elective studies towards your degree, and the credits will contribute to the scholarship for the second year of study.

Before your arrival to Joensuu, you will have the chance to join our pre-arrival and residence permit info lectures online. The online info lectures provide the incoming students important information about future studies, matters related to arrival and settling as well as living in Joensuu. The online info lectures are organized online each spring and autumn several times with similar content. During all the lectures, you will have the chance to ask questions from Karelia UAS staff members.

Below you can see the schedule for Spring 2026 online info lectures:

Residence permit info lecture

Pre-arrival online info lectures

Series 1:

  • March 10 at 15.00-16.00 Finnish time (UTC +3): Moving to Finland
    During the lecture, you will hear basics about Finland and Karelia UAS. You will also get information about moving and arriving to Finland.
  • March 17 at 15.00-16.00 Finnish time (UTC +2): Living in Finland
    During the lecture, you will hear about how to apply for housing and what the living expenses in Joensuu are.
    Join the lecture by clicking this link.
  • March 26 at 15.00-16.00 Finnish time (UTC +2): Studying at Karelia UAS
    During the lecture, you will hear about the studies and study culture at Karelia UAS.
    Join the lecture by clicking this link.
  • March 31 at 15.00-16.00 Finnish time (UTC +3): Moving to and living in Finland with a family
    During the lecture you will hear about the services for families in Joensuu, such as early childhood care and schooling services.
    Join the lecture by clicking this link.

Series 2 (same content than in series 1):

  • May 11 at 15.00-16.00 Finnish time (UTC +3): Moving to Finland
    During the lecture, you will hear basics about Finland and Karelia UAS. You will also get information about moving and arriving to Finland.
    Join the lecture by clicking this link.
  • May 21 at 15.00-16.00 Finnish time (UTC +3): Living in Finland
    During the lecture, you will hear about how to apply for housing and what the living expenses in Joensuu are.
    Join the lecture by clicking this link.
  • May 28 at 15.00-16.00 Finnish time (UTC +3): Studying at Karelia UAS
    During the lecture, you will hear about the studies and study culture at Karelia UAS.
    Join the lecture by clicking this link.
  • June 4 at 15.00-16.00 Finnish time (UTC +3): Moving to and living in Finland with a family
    During the lecture you will hear about the services for families in Joensuu, such as early childhood care and schooling services.
    Join the lecture by clicking this link.

Courses are not mandatory for your degree studies but are highly recommended. That way, you will be one step ahead when you start your degree studies, and you will have earned your first credits! 


Karelia UAS courses:

  • Finnish for Beginners: 22 June 2026 – 11 October 2026
    • 2 credits
    • !! The course is structured so, that you submit one assignment each week. Assignments cannot be submitted later, so it is important to start the course in the first week.
  • Everyday English: 18 May 2026 – 30 September 2026
    • 3 credits
    • Revising grammar and vocabulary
  • Karelia Start Kit, self-study material 
    • no credits
    • This material familiarises you with the digital environments of Karelia UAS before the commencement of your studies. The tools presented in this material are crucial for your academic journey.

! You can also participate in the following online courses. Please note that these courses are not provided by Karelia UAS, so remember to follow the instructions available on each course’s website.

How to Get Started:

Activate Your Karelia User Account
Begin by activating your Karelia ID — your key to all digital services.

  1. Go to Information for new students on the Karelia University website
  2. Open the Before arrival page and find the section IT services and Karelia user account.
  3. Follow the instructions to activate your Karelia user account (Karelia ID)

Access Moodle
Once your Karelia ID is active, you can log in to Moodle, our virtual learning environment.
For detailed login instructions, see the IT services and Karelia user account section.

After logging in, check your Moodle Dashboard to see your courses

If your courses do not appear automatically, you will find the course links and access keys on the Pre-arrival course package Moodle page (under update — link available by 18 May 2026 at the latest).

Getting Started with Your Studies
Read your teachers’ instructions carefully, including all assignments and deadlines. This will help you organise your work and stay on track.

Start Strong
Your academic journey is about to begin — and these pre-arrival courses are a great way to prepare. They help you build essential skills, gain valuable knowledge, earn credits toward your degree, and support your scholarship progress. Approach them with curiosity and confidence. The work you do now will set the foundation for a successful and rewarding year ahead.

Karelia UAS Integration Services guide international degree students in various topics. You can contact the Integration Services already before your arrival and during your studies.
E-mail: [email protected]
Read more about the services and find out in which matters you can contact the Integration Services.