Information for admitted degree students

Congratulations! Welcome to start your future career at the University of Turku. Here you can find information on what to do next and what kind of practicalities you should take care of.

This page offers a comprehensive checklist of the required steps to ensure you meet all requirements and deadlines for a smooth start at the University of Turku.

1. Immediately after receiving an admission offer

Accept the study place (and scholarship)

You will receive the admission letter from the University of Turku by email. You can also see your result at Studyinfo. Results will be published

on 2 April 2025 if you applied to master's degree programme or bachelor's degree programme in Admission Group I.
on 26 May 2025 if you applied to bachelor's degree programme in Admission Group II.

You have to accept the study place by the deadline given in the letter. The confirmation is done online at Studyinfo and cannot be altered later.

If you receive also a scholarship the deadline is in April or in May. The exact date is stated in your admission letter.
If you do not receive a scholarship the deadline is in mid-July.

If you do not accept the study place by the deadline you forfeit your right to enroll in the programme.

Please note that you can accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland per semester. So if you have applied for several programmes/universities and get admitted to more than one, you have to choose which study place you accept. Please read more information here.

Conditional admission

If you have been admitted conditionally (see your original admission offer), fulfill your condition by the deadline in order to keep your study right:

Those who must provide their degree documents for verification, do so by 31 May 2025. Follow the instructions on the page Providing original educational documents
Those who must pay tuition fees must pay the full tuition amount or its first installment by 31 July 2025.
Those who applied with incomplete degrees, must send proof of their graduation to the Admission Services by 11 August 2025 by 15:00 (3 pm, local Finnish time). See your admission offer for instructions.

Apply for a residence permit

If you are not an EU/EEA citizen you must obtain a residence permit from the nearest Finnish embassy or consulate in your home country.

You can apply electronically online but a visit to the embassy/consulate is needed for the biometrical identification.
You must obtain residence permit before you arrive in Finland.
You need to have valid health insurance.
You also need to be able to prove that you have necessary funding.
- Proof that you have enough money to cover or have already paid the tuition fee.
- Proof that you have enough money for monthly expenses (800 €/month).
Remember also to check if you need a visa to enter the Schengen area.
See Finnish Immigration Service's website for detailed instructions.

If you are a citizen of an EU member state, a Nordic country, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, you do not need a residence permit to stay in Finland. However, you do need to register your right of residence, and apply for EU registration.

If you hold a valid residence permit for studies issued by another EU Member State, and you are coming to University of Turku to complete a part of your studies in a joint degree programme, you must submit a mobility notification to Finland.

For more information, please see our page for residence permit matters.

Plan your finances

2. Before arrival in Turku

Apply for housing

TYS (the Student Village Foundation) manages affordable student apartments in Turku. However, it is your responsibility to arrange accommodation for yourself. Make sure to apply on time. We recommend applying at least three months before your studies begin. Due to high demand, TYS (nor the University of Turku) cannot guarantee accommodation for all students before the start of the academic year. If you do not secure an apartment through TYS, consider exploring other housing options.

For more information, see our page for housing for degree students.

Submit original documents

Those who must provide their degree documents for verification, must do so by 31 May 2025.

Depending on the level of the degree which was the basis of your eligibility when you submitted your application to the University, you must follow the instructions on either of the following pages:

You are starting in a Bachelor's degree programme, and the degree which proves your eligibility is an upper secondary school certificate or similar (e.g. high school diploma etc.): Providing Upper Secondary Documents
You are starting in a Bachelor's or a Master's degree programme, and the degree which proves your eligibility is a Bachelor's degree or higher: Providing Original Educational Documents.

Those who applied with incomplete degrees, must send proof of their graduation, and provide their original educational documents for verification according to the instructions above to the Admission Services by 11 August 2025 by 15:00 (3 pm, local Finnish time). See your admission offer for more information.

Pay the tuition fee

All students need to register with the University of Turku each academic year as an attending (present) or non-attending (absent) student. You need to be registered as an attending student to get a degree or to get credits entered into the study register Peppi.

If you need to pay tuition fees, the payment must be taken care of before you are able to register. The registration may be cancelled, if the tuition fee has not been paid by the due date.

Registration as attending student is done by paying the Student Union membership fee by 31 August 2025. You will receive a separate email with detailed instructions for the registration. Please see more information about registering with the University as a new degree student.

You will receive an email when your Student Union membership fee payment has been processed, and your new study right has been entered into the university's study register. The processing of your payment and study right may take several days.

UTU user account

With the University’s user account i.e. UTU account, you can sign in to almost all the University’s data systems. You can access the wireless network, print, and sign in to Windows workstations. Please see Rules of IT Service Use.

You need to activate your UTU account.

After registering as attending with the University, you will receive an email within a few working days about the University's remote identification service Signicat. Follow the instructions in the email to activate your UTU account.
You can also activate your UTU account on campus at any IT Helpdesk or you can contact helpdesk via email: helpdesk@utu.fi.
Students who have Finnish online banking credentials can use IDM - UTU User account management.

After activation, register a multi-factor authentication (MFA) method for your UTU account in order to access all the data systems.

Plan your travel to Turku

3. After arrival in Turku

Pay the Student Health Care fee

Student health care (Finnish Student Health Service, FSHS) is available to all attending degree students. You must pay the compulsory healthcare fee directly to Kela once per term (spring term 15 March 2025 and autumn term 15 November 2025) either with Finnish online banking credentials or as a bank transfer.

Students who have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country or from Switzerland or the United Kingdom, do not need to pay the fee, but are still welcome to use the services of the FSHS. These students should submit a notification about their social security coverage to Kela, see instructions about the process from Kela's page linked above.

Visit DVV

Apply for a Finnish ID code at the local service location of the DVV (The Digital and Population Data Services Agency) or during DVV's specific registration days for international students (see the orientation programme for the dates).

After you receive your Finnish ID code, send it to the University's registry via their e-mail address disco(at)utu.fi. This enables you to use several services like the FSHS more efficiently.

More information regarding applying for the Finnish ID Code will be available during orientation.

Join orientation

Other practicalities

Sign your lease at the housing office.
If you move within Finland, make a change of address notification so that you get mail delivered.
Update your address in Turku yourself in the University's study data system Peppi. Also check that all your personal information is correct in the system. If anything is incorrect (such as the spelling of your name), please contact disco@utu.fi
Get your electronic tag to access University buildings and printing services.
- Requires active UTU credentials.
Open a bank account, if you need one. To open a Finnish bank account, you will need at least the following documents:
- your passport (or official EU ID card)
- a Finnish ID code and you need to be registered as a foreigner in Finland (DVV, see above)
- your housing information in Finland
- a study certificate from the University.
- The bank may also ask for a statement from your previous bank.
- It is possible to open an online bank account like Revolut, Wise to manage your banking in Finland.
Get a bus card at Turku Region Traffic (Föli) office if you need one.