Finland: University leaders oppose government proposal to create open-to-all fee-paying programmes

The Finnish Universities Rectors' Council (UNIFI) has stated its opposition to the Finnish government's proposal that higher education institutions offer degrees entirely as open higher education, with fees that fully cover the costs, instead of the current state-funded, free and selective programmes.

"Education is already inherited and there is a risk that the proposal will strengthen the influence of socio-economic background in applying for education," the conference noted on 22/05/2026.

If the goal is to raise the educational level of young adults to as close to 50% of the age group in 2030, the proposal "does not meet it well", according to UNIFI.

The council opposes the proposal mainly based on four key concerns:

• The proposal targets adults already in the workforce who may already hold degrees, meaning their educational level would not technically rise. Meanwhile, people finishing secondary school rarely have the wealth to pay high tuition fees, making parental financial status a potential barrier;
• As student selection criteria (admissions tests) would not apply to these…