Today marks the celebration of The Day for Free Education.
The Finnish education system has been built on the principle that anyone can obtain an education, regardless of their background. The aim has been to ensure that access to education is not dependent on an individual’s financial, cultural, or social circumstances. Obtaining an education has not required significant financial capital or parental support. Free education and the student financial aid system have promoted educational equality.
The government led by Prime Minister Orpo has set a goal to raise Finland’s level of education so that the proportion of young people with higher education reaches 50% by 2030. At the same time, students are being moved back to the housing allowance, and the share of loans in student aid is being increased. In the worst case, housing support will decrease by up to 170 euros per month. As of August 2024, the maximum monthly student loan amount has risen from 650 euros to 850 euros.
Recent trends of increasing student loans are concerning for students. Although a student loan is not directly a tuition fee, it is still a debt that many students must take on to obtain an education. Even though student loans are often referred to as an alternative way to finance one’s studies, for many, they are a necessity. The average loan taken out by students has nearly doubled in ten years, reaching 14,000 euros. Two out of three students take out loans primarily to cover essential living expenses (KOTT 2024). Nearly one in seven students believes they will struggle to repay their loan after graduation.
The debt burden accumulated during studies is the price of education. When students’ livelihoods depend on borrowed money, we must question whether we can truly speak of free education. Increasing the level of education cannot be achieved by weakening equal opportunities to study.
Finland has taken pride in offering free education – and rightly so. The principle of equal educational opportunity has been based on the idea that anyone can become anything. We must continue to uphold free education in the future.
Olivia Ranta, TREY’s Board member
Mira Kokko, TREY’s Board member