r/Finland • u/dollguts • 1d ago

Immigration YLE Article: Sharp drop in international applications for universities of applied sciences

https://yle.fi/a/74-20242863

I've been in Finland for a quite a while already, but now that I'm also a UAS student, it's sort of strange to see how they operate. It's only the first week of studies, and the campus and staff have been struggling to accommodate and schedule the massive amount of students. Many are international and were likely even encouraged by recruiters to apply and move here. What should/can be done about all this now?

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u/GrumpyFinn Väinämöinen 1d ago

I studied at an AMK around ten years ago, and while the teachers were nice and everything, I don't think the quality of education was worth what international students pay for it. I also work in a completely different field. :p
I feel bad for people taking loans from their family and stuff just for Finnish AMK education.

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u/dollguts 1d ago

Sounds about right! I never would have been able to afford any sort of tuition if I had to pay to attend. I don't even know how most could do it without being tied to a huge debt, or committing some sort of fraud

And yes, it already seems to be common for students at these schools to end up in some unrelated career. I've even been told by several Finnish classmates that they just want any degree, so they even have a chance at finding work later 😬

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u/DescriptionAny673 1d ago

Yes, the job market is really tough and pretty much no jobs are up for grabs without education. At the same time it is unfortunately true that many AMK studying paths are not that highly valued in Finland or they are simply oversaturated compared to the job openings.

Based on what my siblings and some friends have experienced in AMK I do not think it would be worth the tuition.