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Higher Educa­tion Prepara­tory Programme for Immigrants

In the Higher Educa­tion Prepara­tory Programme for Immi­grants you gain skills and compe­ten­cies needed in higher educa­tion studies or working life. The language of instruc­tion in the programme is Finnish. 

The programme includes a lot of Finnish language studies and you will improve your language skills from level B1 to level B2, which is needed for higher educa­tion studies in Finland. 

During the programme, you will improve your study skills and get to know the field of study that inter­ests you. You will receive infor­ma­tion on differ­ent educa­tion options in Finland as well as teach­ing and guid­ance on how to apply to differ­ent educa­tional insti­tu­tions. In addi­tion, you will gain the acad­e­mic skills needed in a Finnish higher educa­tion institution.

The programme is orga­nized in Joensuu and it is mainly contact teach­ing. Study­ing is full-time.

Who can apply?

You can apply to the Higher Educa­tion Prepara­tory Programme, if you have:

– Certifi­cate of Secondary Educa­tion (high school or voca­tional qualification)

– a Foreign degree that in the rele­vant country qual­i­fies for higher educa­tion studies

– Finnish language skills, level B1

Contents of the programme

Prepara­tory Programme Courses:

  • Finnish language, three courses
  • Skills and Compe­ten­cies for Higher Educa­tion studies, one course
  • Math­e­mat­ics, one course
  • English language, one course (you don’t have to know English when you start the programme)

Scope and lenght: 30 credits, 6 months
Appli­ca­tion period: 5.6-18.9.2024
Train­ing period: 4.11.2024–30.4.2025

Entrance exam­i­na­tion: 30.9.2024 in Joensuu, at Karelia UAS

How to apply?

You can apply to the programme by filling in an elec­tron­i­cal appli­ca­tion form. The form is in Finnish. 

Open and fill in the appli­ca­tion form from this link (the form will open on June 5th, 2024)

All appli­cants will be invited to the entrance exam. The invi­ta­tions will be sent in Septem­ber. After the entrance exam, you will receive the infor­ma­tion, if you have been accepted to the programme.

The programme is free of charge and you can receive Finan­cial aid for students from Kela. More infor­ma­tion about the Finan­cial aid for students from Kela webpage. Ask the TE Office for more infor­ma­tion about finan­cial support during studies in the programme.

After the prepara­tory programme, you can apply to study at all higher educa­tion insti­tu­tions in Finland in the Joint appli­ca­tion system (then there will be an entrance exam). After the prepara­tory programme, you can apply to Karelia Univer­sity of Applied Sciences without an entrance exam, in a sepa­rate appli­ca­tion process. Read more about the sepa­rate appli­ca­tion process on our website (in Finnish).

Watch a video about the programme on Youtube.

Take a look at the expe­ri­ences of the students who studied in the programme 2021-2022:

Students from the Higher Educa­tion Prepara­tory Programme at Karelia UAS in 2021-2022 tell about their experiences. 
More infor­ma­tion:

Taru Väisä­nen
[email protected]
+ 358 50 413 8260

Kirsi Autio
[email protected]
+358 50 467 9219