Registration with the University and Study Rights

Registration with the University takes place in the Oili enrolment service 

• Oili service is open during registration periods.
• In the Oili registration service, enrollment is made on a per-right basis, in which case you can register separately as attending for one study right and non-attending for another.
• If you have a 2-cycle study right (degree pair consisting of Bachelor and Master level degrees) the registration is done with the Bachelor degree study right unless you have graduated from it before the registration period. The attendance will be automatically transferred to the Master level study right when you graduate with the Bachelor's degree. If your Master degree study right has been confirmed by administrative staff and you have access to it in the Peppi system, you can complete studies for your Master's degree even thought the attendance is not yet visible there.
• In the Oili service you can also register for different statuses for the autumn and spring semesters (ie attendance / absence can be selected on a semester-by-semester basis)
• Students, who were non-attending during their first year of studies, register via OILI service as a continuing student. If you haven't activated your UTU account or your password has expired, you can do both in idm.utu.fi or read more below (User Account for IT Services).

All Bachelor's, Master's and PhD level students need to register with the University of Turku annually.

New academic year begins 1 Aug.

• Registration period for degree students is 1 June - 31 Aug 
• Registration period for the spring semester is 1 Dec - 15 Jan. This concerns only students who have first registered with the University only for autumn semester and who register separately for the spring semester.
• You can't register before the registration period begins.
• It is not possible to do the registration retrospectively either.

Students with tuition fee

• Students who need to pay the tuition fee, must first pay the fee, and only after that register with the University of Turku.
• If the tuition fee has not been paid by due date, the registration may be cancelled.

Inactive study right

• If your study right is inactive due to demarcation of study time or passive register, you need to re-activate it before registering with the university. All re-activation applications are managed in the faculties. 

Do you have several study rights at the University of Turku?

• If you currently have a valid study right for a degree at the University of Turku, you need to register according to the instructions for degree students.

• Students who are doing their degree in double degree programmes have to register with the university annually during the registration period.
  • Double degree students register like other Bachelor/Master level degree students and are subject to the same student union membership fees and Kela health care fees as other undergraduate students.
  • When you study at the University of Turku, receive an exchange scholarship from University of Turku or graduate, you must register as an attending student with the University of Turku.
  • In other semesters, you can register as non-attending.

Please note that these instructions apply to registration with the University of Turku. The registration policies are different at the partner universities, you should verify them yourself from the university in question.

Students who need to pay the tuition fee or who receive scholarships that cover the tuition fee must:

1. first pay the tuition fee for the University or have been awarded or received a confirmation of a scholarship to cover the tuition fee
2. only after that register with the University of Turku as attending student and pay the Student Union membership fee

If the tuition fee has not been paid or scholarship that cover the tuition fee been confirmed by due date, the registration may be cancelled.

Students who are liable for tuition fee have to register with the university annually during the registration period. These students register like other Bachelor/Master level degree students and are subject to the same student union membership fees and Kela health care fees as other undergraduate students.

If you have non-degree study right and also a degree student's study right, you need to register with the University according to registration instructions for degree students.

Registration as an attending is entered automatically for almost all non-degree students.

• Registration for non-degree studies done automatically in the Student Centre Disco during the whole period of the study right
• Students studying in certain programmes in the faculty of Medicine need to register in person.
• According to University's regulations a student can continue supplementary studies after graduation.
• Please read specific information on registration procedures here.

You'll receive e-mail from student centre Disco

• All students conducting non-degree studies will receive an e-mail from the student centre Disco after automatic registration or information on how to register with the University.

Registration period only concerns degree students

• You have to apply for a permission to re-register in case you register late after the registration period has ended or if considerable time has passed since your last registration. It is not possible to do the registration retrospectively.
• Registration period for spring semester concerns only students who have first registered with the University only for autumn semester (for instance due to demarcation of study right) and register separately for spring semester. If the student misses the registration period for spring semester, he/she needs to re-register as mentioned in these instructions.
• Demarcation of study right and passive register may affect your registration. You may need to contact the Faculty to activate your study right before you'll be able to register with the University.
• To get the permission and instructions to re-register to the university, please contact Student Centre Disco for re-registration by e-mail disco@utu.fi. Re-registration can't be done by telephone. Please remember to tell you student number or Finnish ID code in your message to Disco. E-mails are processed on a first come, first served basis.

Study-specific academic year registration changes the re-registration procedure

• Registration with the university is based on the right to study. This means that if you have not registered for one of the study rights, a re-registration fee will be charged for late registration, even if you have previously registered for the presence / absence of another study right.
  • If you register late for more than one study right at a time, you will only be charged one re-registration fee (= application processing fee).
  • If you then register for another study right (s), you will be charged a re-enrollment fee (the fee is therefore application-specific). Therefore, remember to make sure that you always register for all study rights, either present or absent. This is how you avoid additional charges.

Re-registration fee

• There is a re-registration fee of 50 € which will be charged before registration (decree of the Ministry of Education 199/2024).
• The re-registration fee will be charged for degree students only.
• The re-registration fee is paid in UTUshop (University of Turku webshop) and you will get instructions on how to pay it from Student Centre Disco.
• Student Union membership fee is paid to a different account. The account number is also given to you in your personal instructions from Student Centre Disco.

You may register yourself as an attending or non-attending student.

Attending student

• You need to be registered as an attending student to get a degree or to get credits entered into Peppi.
• Only attending students can register for courses and exams in Peppi.
• During international exchange studies abroad, you need to be registered as an attending student.
• Utu-username is active and you can use for example the University's e-mail account.

Non-attending student

• It is not possible to get a degree or to get credits entered into Peppi.
• Utu-username is active and you can use for example the University's e-mail account.
• There are special rules for new Bachelor's/Master's/PhD degree students to register as non-attending. More information about this can be found in the registration instructions for new degree students at the end of this page. 

Status of registration has an influence on your study time

• Bachelor's and Master's Degree students whose study right began on 1 August 2005 or after must be aware of the demarcation of study time. The status of registration is taken on the last day of each semester.
  • From 2 Aug enrollment is made on a per-right basis, in which case you can register separately as attending for one study right and non-attending for another.

Change of status from non-attending to attending

• You can change your status from non-attending to attending at any time during the academic year.
  • During the registration period, you can make the change in the Oili registration service.
  • The registration period for the spring semester 2025 is 1 December 2024-15 January 2025.
• If you have any questions please contact the Student Centre Disco. Please remember to tell your study right number or Finnish ID code in your message to Disco. 
• There is no re-registration fee when changing the registration status.
• The change cannot be made after the end of the semester.

Change of status from attending to non-attending

• If you want to change attendance to non-attendance, it is possible only during the registration period and only if you have not received any credits or university degree during that semester.
• To change the status please contact the Student Centre Disco. Please remember to tell your study right number or Finnish ID code in your message to Disco.
• There is no re-registration fee when changing the registration status.
• The change cannot be made after the end of the registration period.

Who must pay the healthcare fee for students in higher education?

• Students who are liable to pay the fee are students who have registered as attending and who are completing a bachelor's or master's level university degree.
• You do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country or from Switzerland or the United Kingdom. Even if you do not have to pay the fee, you can still use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service. Read more: How should I proceed if I have social security coverage in another EU/EEA country or in Switzerland or the United Kingdom? (Kela's update from 1 July 2022) 
• Incoming exchange students, students in open university and students in tailor-made, customer-specific training programmes are not entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service, and thus they do not have to pay the healthcare fee. 

Starting in January 2021, students in universities of applied sciences and academic universities who are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (YTHS) will pay a healthcare fee to Kela.

• The student union membership fee no longer includes the health care fee.
• The amount that must be paid is defined in a Government Decree and may vary from year to year. 

No bill will be sent on the healthcare fee, and thus the student has to pay the fee to Kela on his or her own initiative.

• The fee must be paid even if you do not use FSHS services.
• The fee is paid to Kela once per term, i.e., twice a year. 

How to pay

• A. If you have Finnish online banking credentials:
  • he healthcare fee can be paid via Kela's e-service (in Finnish): Hakemukset ja ilmoitukset > Korkeakouluopiskelijan terveydenhoitomaksu
  • On the e-service, you will be directed to your online bank to effect the payment, or you can print the payment details for later use.
• B. If you cannot use the e-service for instance because you do not have Finnish online banking credentials:
  • Please pay the fee to Kela as a bank transfer. Please see Kela's webpage for the payment details.
• Please read more information on payments at Kela website.

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Information on the services and the service network of the Finnish Student Health Service is available on the website of the Finnish Student Health Service.

Student union membership

• Student Union membership is compulsory for undergraduate students and voluntary for exchange and PhD students (Universities Act 558/2009, 46§).
• Also students in Double Degree Programmes need to join the Student Union for the whole study time.
• Other students are not eligible to join the Student Union. Therefore students in non-degree or specialisation studies are not allowed to join the Student Union.
• Remember to pay the health care fee separately to Kela! See more on this in the previous paragraph.

Please read more information on student benefits in Student Union's website.

Student Card

Student card is a sign of your membership in Student Union.

• After paying the Student Union fee, you can order your plastic student card at Frank's website
• Tuudo and/or Frank App can be downloaded on Android and iOS phones.
• New student, you can activate your student card starting 1 Aug when the new academic year starts and your study right becomes active.
• Please read more information on student benefits and Student card in Student Union's website.

Refunding the membership fee

If you have paid the Student Union membership fee and change your registration status according to the registration instructions (please see restrictions in Attending or non-attending?), you are allowed to get a refund from the fee.

How to get the refund?

• Contact the Student Centre Disco if you wish to change your attending status as non-attending during registration period. Please remember to tell you student number or Finnish ID code in your message to Disco. 
• Then you have to contact the Student Union for refund.
• For the Student Union you'll need to have the receipt of your payment.

Due dates

• For autumn semester or whole academic year
  • inform the student centre Disco within the registration period, by 31 August
  • contact the Student Union by 30 September
• For spring semester
  • inform the student centre Disco within the registration period, by 15 January 
  • contact the Student Union by 28 February

If these days are on weekend, then the due date is the next working day.

If you have registered with the University of Turku as attending or non-attending, you will receive a personal user account, UTU 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.

The user account is highly important as electronic services are needed for most of the courses. The terms of use of the account must be explicitly followed.

Please note that all official information will be sent to UTU e-mail only.

Activating the Account

• The new account is activated at https://idm.utu.fi. Activation online requires a Finnish ID code and banking credentials.
• If you do not have Finnish online bank credentials, you can activate your UTU account at any IT helpdesk. The main office of IT Services is located at Educarium (Assistentinkatu 5).
• If you receive a new study right but you already have a user account there is no need for activation (although you may change your password on the same website).

Registering as attending or non-attending keeps the account active

• You need to have also a valid study right at the University of Turku.
• After the last registration semester,
  • the user account is valid until 1 October (last registration: spring semester) or
  • the user account is valid until 31 January (last registration: autumn semester)
• If your study right is inactive due to demarcation of study time or passive register, you need to re-activate it in order to access your UTU account. All re-activation matters are managed in the Faculties. 

For how long is the account valid?

• The UTU account is valid for two months from the expiration of the right to study (graduation, forfeiting of the study right or other reason for termination)

Changing your personal details in user account

• We receive the change of name directly from the Digital and Population Information Agency. Personal data is stored in Peppi in the same format as it is in Finnish Population Information System of the Digital and Population Information Agency.
  • If your name has been changed officially in Finnish Population Information System, but is not seen in Peppi, please inform the Student Centre Disco about your new name. 
• Only after the changes in Peppi the IT Services at can make changes to your UTU account. 
  • Please inform IT services helpdesk(at)utu.fi if necessary.

Please read more information on rules of the IT Services

• More information on user accounts and passwords is available at the website of IT Services.

Please inform the University of changes in your contact information

• You can update your address yourself in Peppi.
  • Your contact information has been transferred into Peppi from your application. Please change your contact information in Peppi after your registration has been processed.

Changes in name or Finnish ID

• Personal data is stored in Peppi in the same format as it is in Finnish Population Information System of the Digital and Population Information Agency.
  • We receive the change of name and home address directly from the Digital and Population Information Agency. 
  • Please inform the Student Centre Disco if you have received a Finnish identity code or Finnish citizenship.
• After the changes in your name have been made in Student Centre Disco, the IT Services at UTU can make changes to your UTU account. Please inform IT services helpdesk(at)utu.fi if changes are necessary.

Use of your personal data within and outside University

• Within the University your personal data is automatically transferred to the University library, to the IT Services (for user account) and to the university's intranet's personnel search. 

University may release student’s contact information to certain purposes outside University:

• This information is not used for commercial or marketing purposes.
• Your name and contact information may be used from the student register system for certain kinds of research related to studies.
• You may permit or deny entities outside the university to use your personal information for e.g. questionnaires and opinion polls related to studies (e.g. the Student Union, professional organisations). The permission to use a new student's personal data is given on an application form where the information is transferred to the study register. You can make changes on the status of the release of this information in Nettiopsu or by informing the Student Centre Disco by e-mail.

Please read also Privacy Notice of Processing Personal Data of Students in Education.