In its mid-term policy review session, Prime Minister Orpo’s Government decided on reforms to be made to open higher education. A study voucher at an open university or an open university of applied sciences is planned for young people left without a place in higher education. In addition, the Government also wants to promote the awarding of degrees by open universities. A steering group has been set up to prepare the matter, in which SYL, the National Union of University Students in Finland, is also represented.
A degree from an open university or an open university of applied sciences is an often-repeated proposal. However, no strong support has been found for it before, nor does it enjoy wide support among the education providers or other actors in the field of education. However, the open university is now a target of strong political passions. The Government is now fastening its gaze on the open university when seeking solutions to the declining level of education and the challenges in student admission.
The idea of a degree completed at an open university is often based on a misunderstanding of how the higher education system is structured. The open university is by no means a separate organisation, but either an independent institute of a university or merely a description of the university’s provision of education available to everyone. Taking this into account, it is difficult to find grounds for why Orpo’s Government sees the open university as a silver bullet that will solve the problems related to seeking higher education and provision of education.
Therefore, talking about the open university and the degrees awarded by it appears to be a diversionary tactic. Namely, one of the key things about open university education is that the law permits fees to be charged for studies completed there, whereas degree education in Finland is prescribed to be free of charge for citizens of the EU and EEA by law. The Government would seem to have a strong will to introduce fee-based degrees into the Finnish system and uses open higher education as a smokescreen for that in public debate.
The Ministry of Education and Culture’s press release on amendments to 2026 budget proposal no longer bothers to hide the political will: “To raise the level of education, the provision of education will be expanded by providing, alongside free degree education, an opportunity for fee-based degree education based on open higher education studies.” In other words, the objective of introducing fee-based degree education into the Finnish system has now also been given out.
So, what purpose does the talk about the open university serve? Why doesn’t the Government say more openly that it is preparing fee-based degrees? Finland has become accustomed to regard free education as a basic value that guarantees the competitiveness of a small nation and, above all, equal opportunities to seek education regardless of wealth. The open university, on the other hand, sounds like a beautiful idea; openness is a great thing. However, the open university’s openness is limited to individuals able to pay for their education.
Through its project, Orpo’s Government strives to slowly ease fee-based degree education as part of the Finnish education system. It is a question of a huge reform that must not go through unnoticed. Are we really prepared to forsake free education as we have learned to know it?
