This is a translation of the opinion piece published in Aamulehti on 22 August 2025.
Aamulehti recently raised a very important topic: Nysse’s student tickets, which, at the moment, are unreasonably expensive to us students (Aamulehti 7 Aug 2025). At the moment, students can buy a 30-day student mobile ticket (€48 per month), a 360-day adult ticket (€460 per year), or travel with value tickets. Contrary to what one might think, by choosing the first option, students do not save any money if it is necessary to use Nysse year-round because buying the 30-day student ticket for 10 months is more expensive than buying a regularly priced yearly ticket.
As a solution to the problem, Nysse has advised that students buy other discounted tickets, such as the youth ticket. It is, however, necessary to remind Nysse that we students are a diverse group. A large portion of higher education students are over 25 years old and therefore cannot benefit from youth tickets. The amount of student financial aid is nevertheless the same for each student regardless of age.
Students’ income has been cut considerably in recent years. The index increases to student financial aid were frozen starting from 2024, and as of August 2025, students no longer receive general housing allowance but housing supplement, a smaller benefit. Due to these changes, a student from Tampere will receive a maximum of 527 euros in study grant and housing supplement benefits per month in the Autumn of 2025. As students’ income drops, student discounts are more needed. After transitioning to receiving housing supplement, we are in a situation in which more students are forced to look for a cheaper apartment further away from their campus. Student discounts are not just wanted but also needed when students need to get to campus daily even when living further away.
Contrary to what Tanja Lehtonen, Development Manager at Nysse, told in the aforementioned article by Aamulehti, the realisation of a yearly student ticket is a long-time wish, and the Student Union and the Students’ Union have aimed for this in their municipal election advocacy work for several years. So when there is an acute need for a yearly student ticket and a commitment to its realisation expressed in the Mayor’s Programme, we want to see this happen also in practice.
Laura Heino, Chair of the Board of the Student Union of Tampere University
Jarkko Hannula, Chair of the Board of the Students’ Union of Tampere University of Applied Sciences