The University of Helsinki Scholarship Programme gives tuition fee waivers to excellent students from outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland who must pay fees for an international master’s programme in Helsinki, Finland.
Applicants request a 50% or 100% waiver on the master’s application form, and each programme picks its own recipients. Only a very limited number are awarded, most of them 50%. The university offers no living-cost grant.
Benefits & funding
- A waiver of 50% or 100% of the tuition fee, which is €13,000–18,000 a year by programme; most awards are 50% (categories as listed for the 2025–26 round).
- Lasts two years, continued after year one depending on progress; full-time study of at least 55 ECTS a year is required.
- Living costs are not covered; 50% recipients pay the other half of the fee.
- The waiver ends if you stop being liable for fees.
Eligibility
- Citizens of countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland who are liable to pay tuition fees for an English-taught master’s programme.
- Not eligible: holders of Finnish permits that exempt from fees, such as a permanent P or P-EU permit, an EU Blue Card, temporary protection or an EU family-member card; a type A permit exempts only if not granted for study.
- You must be eligible for the master’s programme, meet Finnish entry visa and residence permit requirements, and show excellent previous results.
- Graduates of the university’s English-language bachelor’s programmes who finish on time get a waiver by GPA instead (3.8/5 for 100%, 3.4–3.7 for 50%).
Application process
- 1Apply to an international master’s programme from 5 to 19 January 2027 with its required attachments; applicants from outside the EU/EEA pay a one-time €100 national application fee, which cannot be waived.
- 2Request the 50% or 100% waiver on the same application form.
- 3The waiver result comes in the admission e-mail; sign the scholarship agreement, and 50% recipients pay the remaining fee before registering.
Program timeline
Application period opens
Jan 5, 2027
Application deadline
Jan 19, 2027
2027-08
Studies start (autumn 2027)