New Students -Frequently Asked Questions

On this page you can find answers for ques­tions that are asked from us frequently.

Degree students

I want to become a degree student. Where can I find infor­ma­tion? 

• Infor­ma­tion about the eligi­bil­ity and apply­ing can be found at www.karelia.fi/en/apply-to-us 

Tuition fee, Early-bird price, schol­ar­ships and refund policy 

•  You can find the infor­ma­tion at www.karelia.fi/en/tuition-fees 

I have applied for a study place, and now I’m on a waiting list. How can I check, where my appli­ca­tion is in the queue?

• You can follow the waiting list posi­tion at MyStudy­info. Please read more about it here. In case of ques­tions, please, contact Admis­sion Services: admissions(at)karelia.fi.

I paid my tuition fee to Karelia UAS. How can I get a confir­ma­tion of it?

• If you have paid the tuition fee via Karelia Shop, you will auto­mat­i­cally receive a receipt of the tuition fee payment to your email address. If the the tuition fee payment is made via bank trans­fer, a receipt of the tuition fee will be sent to you by email once it has arrived at Karelia’s bank account. Please note that inter­na­tional money trans­fer can take several days.

How can apply a resi­dence permit? 

• You can find instruc­tions and further infor­mat at https://migri.fi/en/residence-permit-application-for-studies  

Start­ing of studies 

• You can find infor­ma­tion on the start of your studies at https://www.karelia.fi/en/new-students/studying-at-karelia-uas/

How can I acti­vate my Karelia user­name and log into Karelia Start Kit? 

•  You will receive an email in August with the instruc­tions on how to acti­vate your Karelia user­name and how to log into the Karelia Start Kit. The user­name will be regis­tered and taken into use at https://id.karelia.fi.  You will need to use elec­tronic iden­ti­fi­ca­tion in the service either with your bank codes or with a mobile certificate. 
• If you are unable to take your user­name into use online, you can receive it from Karelia UAS Helpdesk. In this case, you should make an appoint­ment with the Helpdesk and take an ID with a photo with you (ID card, driver’s license or pass­port). If you cannot visit Helpdesk, please reserve an online appoint­ment with Helpdesk: [email protected]) 

Are the Open UAS courses free for enrolled students?

• Some of Open UAS courses are free of charge. You may find more infor­ma­tion at https://www.karelia.fi/en/open-uas/

Is it possi­ble to work part-time? 

• If you come to study from outside EU, please check the webpages of the Finnish Immi­gra­tion Service (Student’s right to work). You may search for job posi­tions, for example, through mol.fi website. 

Exchange students

Does the univer­sity have any dormi­to­ries? 

• Finnish HEIs don’t have their own dormi­to­ries. However, there are special student housing compa­nies in the cities, where HEIs are located. In Joensuu, students can apply from the student housing company, Joen­suun Elli, for a room in a shared flat once they receive their accep­tance letter from Karelia. The accom­mo­da­tion is located around 3–4 km from Karelia UAS and students can use the bus or bike to the campus. 
• You can find the answers to the FAQ at Joen­suun Elli webpages.

I am an exchange student. Can I take courses from other fields to complete the neces­sary credits for my exchange?  

• All students can take courses from the Joint and Trans­dis­ci­pli­nary courses selec­tion. If you want to take courses from another field, you have to contact your depart­met­nal coor­di­na­tor about this and addi­tion­ally you need to have rele­vant back­groundm on the subject. 

Can I do a trainee­ship exchange at Karelia? 

• Karelia Univer­sity of Applied Sciences can arrange clin­i­cal place­ments in the fields of health (Nursing, Phys­io­ther­apy), ICT. Place­ments in other fields are more limited. The intern­ship can only be arranged for a limited number of exchange students who are enrolled in one of our partner univer­si­ties. Please contact us in advance to discuss the place­ment possibilities. 

 I am an exchange student. Do I get a student card or have any student discounts?  

• If you are coming to Karelia UAS as an exchange student, you will receive a Meal subsidy card. With this card, you can get a student priced meal at our student restau­rants and other student restau­rants across Finland. You can’t use this card for other student discounts. However, you can join the student union POKA and get a student card. The membe­ship fee costs 25 euro acad­e­mic year/semester (+6 euro for print­ing the card) and you can use it to have discounts on long distance buses, trains and univer­sity cafe­te­rias in Finland among others. 

I want to come to Karelia UAS as an exchange student. What do I need to do? 

• If you would like to complete your exchange at Karelia UAS, please first contact your home univer­sity and make sure we have an agree­ment with them in your study field. After that your home univesity will nomi­nate you to us. Once we receive your nomi­na­tion, we will send you an email with all the appli­ca­tion instruc­tions and all other neces­sary infor­ma­tion.