State study voucher opens higher education to young people without places

Young people who were not offered a higher education place can study at an open university or open university of applied sciences with state support from this autumn, Yle reports.

A new nationwide study voucher will be introduced on Wednesday. The voucher is an electronic payment method worth 30 credits, which can be used to pay for open studies in Finnish and Swedish at universities and universities of applied sciences in Finland.

The voucher is available to people under 29 who completed an upper secondary or vocational qualification after 1 December 2025.

The first vouchers will be granted to young people who took part in the joint application process in spring 2026 but were not offered a study place or did not accept one.

The voucher allows young people to begin higher education studies free of charge and explore different study options, for example during a gap year.

Savonia University of Applied Sciences in North Savo says the voucher can be used for pathway studies. Students who complete those studies successfully within the required period can apply for degree studies through a separate application process.

The voucher remains valid for two years after activation. It is activated through the opin.fi service, which brings together the open study offerings of Finnish higher education institutions. The service will allow users to check their eligibility from Wednesday.

The voucher is a three-year temporary pilot run by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The programme has been allocated 18.6 million euros for this year and about 56 million euros in total for 2026 to 2028.