General view on the proposal and a summary of the main points of the statement
TREY opposes the right to award degrees from an open university. The proposal would fundamentally change the Finnish higher education system towards a paid degree education. The changes would undermine the fairness of student admission in higher education by allowing financially capable students to circumvent the selection system.
TREY sees that the proposed right to award degrees from an open university would have significant impacts on daily life on campuses and studying at the university. A key risk concerns the status of students completing degrees in the open university as part of the academic community. The proposal creates two separate student groups on campuses. Open university students does not have equal access to essential support services, and their opportunities for influence within the community are limited.
The proposal lacks a clear answers on several fundamental questions related to the status of students completing degrees in the open university. The proposal does not provide viable solutions to issues concerning students’ right to study, social security, healthcare, first-time applicants, student admissions, student democracy, or equality of students. We consider the proposal to be significantly incomplete.
We do not support the open university degrees in any form.
Views on the objectives of the proposal
The general objectives of raising the level of education and strengthening lifelong learning are commendable. TREY considers the right to award degrees from an open university to be an inefficient way to achieve these objectives. The proposal does not promote the raising the level of education. A degree from an open university does not remove educational barriers but rather undermines educational equality by allowing student admission to be circumvented based on financial capability.
The government’s proposal is not limited to lifelong learning. The open university degree is also targeted at those pursuing their first higher education degree. This represents a significant paradigm shift in Finnish higher education system. With the proposal, we move away from selective student admissions towards an open system based on financial capability. This establishes a two-tier university system in Finland, where one requires admission through a highly competitive selection process, while direct access can be purchased to the others. The proposal undermines the accessibility of university education and increases inequality among applicants, both of which are contrary to the established objectives and long-term Finnish higher educational policies.
Views on the proposals regarding the degree education provided as open higher education (Sections 7 and 8c of the first draft law, and Sections 10 and 12c of the second draft law). Are there any needs for clarifications in the proposed regulation?
TREY does not consider the proposed prohibition on undermining sufficient or practically effective in securing the primary status of degree education. The details of organising degree education happen within the autonomy of the universities. The proposal aims to secure the primacy of degree education, but through the proposed wording, it is practically impossible to assess when changes to degree education within the autonomy framework exceed the legally mandated prohibition on undermining.
The proposal obliges universities to charge students a fee that covers fully the costs from organising the education. Currently, students only pay part of the costs of open university studies. Full coverage will raise the prices of open university education and increase the financial burden on students. Raising prices will change the status of open university as a general education provider and undermine the accessibility of studies.
Views on the proposal regarding the reservation of study places (first-time applicant) (Section 36b of the first draft law and Section 28b of the second draft law).
We see significant issues related to the first-time applicants. In the proposal, the student becomes an open degree student with the student’s notification. Studying or obtaining a degree through open university, would not remove the student’s first-time applicant status. TREY views this principle unfavourably for those seeking their first degree.
In practice, when applying through the joint application system, an applicant who has previously completed a higher education degree at an open university may take away the study place from another applicant who does not yet have prior rights to complete a degree. To prevent this, the law should more precisely define the admission of students to open universities.
Views on the proposal regarding the student financial aid law (third draft law).
Excluding open university students from the student financial aid creates a two-tier system of students in Finland, where some are more strongly supported while others have no access to student social benefits. By excluding open university degree students from student financial aid, the government is exerting pressure on the application of other social benefits to higher education, which is not a desirable direction for the student support system. On the other hand, including open university students within the scope of student financial aid is not a straightforward action but a significant change to the current system.
The lack of student financial aid restricts open university degree studies to only those students who are sufficiently financially able. This fundamentally places applicant groups in an unequal position based on wealth. Wealth-based inequality is a reason related to individuals that can be equated with the prohibition of discrimination. The proposal does not sufficiently examine the law’s effects on students’ livelihoods, equality, or the accessibility of education.
Views on the proposed law regarding student health care (4th legislative proposal)
Excluding open university students from student health care is problematic from the perspectives of student equality. This proposal would create a new type of student group that would not have access to the same support services for study and well-being as degree students.
Student health care plays a significant role in promoting the well-being of the student community. The proposal undermines the progress that has been made towards the unification of health care for higher education students.
Views on the impact assessments of the draft proposal
TREY sees that the impact assessments lack an evaluation of the structural and broader societal impacts on the higher education system. The focus of the impact assessments on the individual perspective does not take into account the broader effects of the proposal on the Finnish higher education system in the long term.
The proposal is not assessed to have significant effects on degree education, and efforts are made to prevent these effects with the prohibition on undermining. We consider the prohibition on undermining to be a principle that is commendable on paper, but practically impossible to implement. Anticipating student amounts, decision-making processes for university admissions, and curriculum development are not reactive processes but rather long-term continuous development. Degree education is cumulative, and the open university degrees must better recognize the prerequisite requirements as studies progress.
It is important that the student numbers for courses are stable and predictable. In practice, a sufficient number of places for open university degree students should be calculated for each course to implement the prohibition on undermining. This makes planning the education and selecting appropriately sized teaching spaces practically impossible. The impact assessment does not correspond to the real work at university.
The right to award degrees would significantly change the role of the open university from its current state. This has not been sufficiently considered in the impact assessments. The current role of the open university as a provider of lifelong learning, skills enhancement, and low-threshold higher education would shift more strongly towards being a provider of commercial degree education. This represents a significant change in the education system. We assume that if the proposal is implemented, universities would direct the resources of the open university more towards paid degree education. This would undermine the other teaching and activities of the open university.
The impact assessments have briefly noted the effects of the proposal on the accessibility of the open university. A broader assessment of the proposal’s impacts on social mobility and educational equality are missing. The impact assessments have identified that paid degree education favours higher income brackets. The purpose of the current subsidised fee for the open university is to support the opportunities of those with lower incomes to obtain university education through the open university. Full cost coverage would undermine these opportunities. We believe that the negative impacts included in the proposal would particularly affect lower income brackets. The negative affects would also focus on women through the gender distribution in educational fields and the wage gaps between different fields.
A comparison can be drawn for full cost coverage from the tuition fees of students from outside the EU and EEA. This would mean at least a doubling of tuition fees compared to the current price level of the open university studies. The degrees from the open university would effectively become an open market, encouraging universities to seek the highest possible price for degrees.
Views on the timeline for the proposal’s implementation (according to the draft proposal, the proposed laws would come into force on 1 August 2028)
TREY sees that the proposal is incomplete and unfinished. The proposal contains several inconsistencies and it leaves several fundamental questions regarding the status of students open. Considering this, enacting the law on the proposed timeline is not justified.
Other observations and considerations
There are several simultaneous legislative changes being directed towards higher education. The government has introduced a single study right rule, an open university voucher, and now also the open university degree. In addition to these, the government proposes changes to the student support system and has moved students from general housing allowance back to the student housing supplement. However, these legislative projects have not been sufficiently evaluated together. University education and applying to university are significant matters in a young person’s life. The laws being enacted now may have surprising effects far into the future, as well as on the completion of studies.
Approved in a meeting of the Executive Board of the Student Union of Tampere University on 28 April 2026.
More Information:
Ville Jäppinen, Specialist in Educational Affairs and International Affairs
ville.jappinen@trey.fi, +35850 361 2849