█ Information for immigrants
Tuition fees
At Sampo, we offer a wide range of training for international students. Secondary education students from outside the EU and EEA countries will be charged tuition fees in the future. The change will apply to students starting their studies in August 2026 or later.
Who is subject to tuition fees?
Tuition fees apply to citizens of countries outside the EEA and EU who come to Finland for study purposes and reside in Finland. Citizens from outside the EEA and EU countries are citizens of countries other than the member states of the European Union or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
The tuition fee is charged to persons who begin their studies on or after August 1, 2026.
The following persons are required to pay the academic year fee:
Persons in vocational education and training
- whose first residence permit in Finland has been granted on the basis of their studies
- adults who come to Finland on the basis of family ties, if their family organizer’s residence permit or first residence permit has been granted on the basis of studies.
These students pay the tuition fee until they obtain a permanent residence permit.
How do tuition fees affect student admission and residence permits?
- A tuition fee is determined for a student who has been admitted to a programme and has accepted the study place.
- A residence permit can be granted only after the tuition fee has been paid.
- Payment of the fee is a precondition for a positive residence permit decision.
- A student subject to tuition fees cannot participate in instruction or training if the fee has not been paid.
Who does not pay the tuition fee?
Education in Finland is free for youth who are subject to compulsory education. Children under the age of 18 who have come to Finland with their family or guardian are subject to compulsory education once they have obtained a municipality of residence in Finland. The grounds for granting a residence permit to a family reunification applicant are irrelevant.
Participants in TUVA training, which prepares them for degree programs, are not subject to tuition fees. The training does not lead to a degree, and it does not qualify participants for a study-based residence permit in Finland.
Participants in vocational training organized as labor force training are not subject to tuition fees. Only persons in Finland who meet the selection criteria set by the labor force authority for the training are selected for the training.
Tuition fees are also not charged, for example, to:
- persons who have been granted a permanent residence permit.
- persons who have been granted a continuous residence permit, whose first residence permit was not granted on the basis of studies.
- exchange students (studying in Finland for a maximum of one year).
- persons residing in the country on the basis of temporary protection.
- persons receiving international protection.
Further information and the amounts of tuition fees
The content of this page will be updated and more detailed information on tuition fees will be published on this page during spring 2026.
Further information on this topic is available on the website of the Ministry of Education and Culture: Tuition fees in upper secondary education