Opintoseteli study voucher

The study voucher is a 30-credit payment instrument for for open higher education studies. The first study vouchers will be introduced in August 2026. Read more below and check whether you are entitled to a study voucher.

What is the study voucher?

The study voucher is a payment method that you can use to pay for open studies at Finnish higher education institutions. With the study voucher, you can attend open studies worth a maximum of 30 ECTS credits in Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences.

The study voucher is valid for two years from the date on which all the results of the joint application are confirmed in August. You can use it at your own pace – you do not need to use the entire study voucher at once.

The study voucher is a temporary pilot project of the Ministry of Education and Culture. The first vouchers will be introduced in 2026.

Can I get a study voucher?

You can receive a study voucher in August 2026 if -you have completed your first upper secondary qualification (matriculation examination, vocational upper secondary qualification or further vocational qualification) after 1 December 2025,

• you are under 29 years old on the day you graduate with an upper secondary qualification
• and you applied for a study place in the spring 2026 joint application process, but were not admitted or did not accept the place you received from a higher education institution.

Check whether you are entitled to the study voucher and activate it in the Opin.fi service in August.

How can I use the study voucher?

If you are entitled to the study voucher, you can activate it in the Opin.fi service when the higher education admissions in the joint application process are confirmed and admission from waitlists has also ended on 4 August 2026. Identify yourself in the service using Suomi.fi e-Identification.

In other words: you do not need to apply for the study voucher separately, and its activation is not binding for you. You can choose which studies to register for and use it at your own pace – you do not need to use the entire study voucher at once.

For which studies can I use the study voucher?

From August 2026 onwards, you can use the study voucher as a payment method when registering for open higher education courses found in the Opin.fi service. The service offers thousands of open courses from more than 30 Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences.

You can use the study voucher in its entirety or in smaller parts during its validity period. You can complete a total of 30 academic credits with a study voucher over a two-year period.

For which studies can the study voucher not be used?

If the open studies at a higher education institution cannot be found in the Opin.fi service, the study voucher cannot be used to pay for them. For example, some courses may only be available in universities’ own webshops. These studies cannot be paid with the study voucher.

Some higher education institutions also offer path studies to degree programmes, for which there is a separate application and admission procedure in the Studyinfo service. The study voucher cannot be used as payment method in Studyinfo.

How does the study voucher work?

The study voucher is a payment instrument with a total balance of 30 academic credits. You can use it as a payment method when registering for open studies that can be found in the Opin.fi service.

For how long is the study voucher valid?

The study voucher is valid for two years from the date on which the results of the joint application process are confirmed and admission from waitlists has also ended. You can find the joint application periods in Studyinfo(Opens in a new tab). You can also check the validity of your study voucher in the Opin.fi service.

The sooner you start using your study voucher, the more time you have to make use of it in the two years. You can register for studies as long as your voucher is valid. However, you do not need to complete the studies during the validity period of the voucher.

Does the study voucher affect the benefits I receive?

The study voucher does not affect any other subsidies or benefits. Those under 25 years of age must apply to two places in the joint application process for higher education in order to receive labour market subsidy. Activating or using the study voucher does not affect your eligibility for labour market subsidy.

The study voucher is a three-year pilot – what does that mean?

The study voucher for open higher education studies is a temporary pilot project of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Its aim is to offer young people who have not been admitted to a university or a university of applied sciences an opportunity to complete open studies free of charge.

With the study voucher, you can see what different higher education institutions and fields have to offer, familiarise yourself with studies at the higher education level, or start path studies towards the degree you are aiming for, for example.

The first study vouchers will be available in August 2026. The pilot should continue until 2028, but the plans may still be specified before that.

What is the Opin.fi service and how is it related to the study voucher?

Opin.fi is a joint service of Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences with a diverse selection of open studies in one place. In the service, you can easily browse and compare the offerings of different higher education institutions. If the course can be found in the Opin.fi service, you can use the study voucher to pay for it.

The service also includes free offerings that can be used without a study voucher. There are options for self-study, such as podcasts, blogs and events. The service also includes numerous free open higher education studies that you should explore.

If you are entitled to a study voucher, you will find this information in August 2026 by logging in to Opin.fi with your Suomi.fi ID. Moving forward, you can also check the balance of your study voucher through the Opin.fi service.

Read more about the Opin.fi service on the About us page.