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The new study voucher offers 30 study credits in higher education free of charge to young people who graduated from upper secondary education, but who could not get a study place. The objective of this three-year trial, implemented by the Ministry of Education and Culture, is to offer easier access to higher education studies and to help young people find studies that suit them. Commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Digivisio 2030 programme implemented the digital study voucher solution for the shared Opin.fi service of Finnish higher education institutions.
Each year, thousands of young people in Finland are left without the study place they worked hard to get. To alleviate the situation and to support the utilisation of gap years, a fixed-term study voucher pilot will be introduced by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The study voucher can be received by those who have completed their first upper secondary qualification between 1 December 2025 and 31 July 2028, are under 29 years of age on the date of graduation and have applied in the first or second joint application of higher education institutions in the spring or in the autumn joint application, but have not been admitted or accepted a study place.
Study vouchers will be introduced today, 5 August 2026 in the Opin.fi service.
An easy and risk-free way to try higher education studies
The study voucher gives young people the chance to explore different fields of study and, in general, try studying at a higher education institute without taking financial risks or worrying about running out of months of student financial aid. The voucher is valid for two years after it has been activated and can be spent flexibly at the student’s own pace.
“Open higher education studies are a good way to get to know different fields and find your own path. The study voucher enables free studies, while the Opin.fi service makes it easy to start studying. The service brings together thousands of open higher education courses, making them easy for users to browse and compare”, says Jonna Piiroinen, manager of the Digivisio 2030 programme.
The Digivisio 2030 programme of Finnish higher education institutions has designed and created a study voucher solution for the Opin.fi service. The planning has involved experts from universities and system development partners, as well as learners.
“The study voucher has been developed in close cooperation with experts and learners from higher education institutions. The aim has been to make its use as easy as possible. In the Opin.fi service, the study voucher is used as a payment method for open higher education studies: instead of an online bank payment, the student can confirm the payment directly from the study voucher balance,” says Piiroinen.
A unique joint service of Finnish higher education institutions: Opin.fi
Opin.fi is a joint service for 37 Finnish higher education institutions that brings together the open study offerings of universities and universities of applied sciences in one place. The service offers thousands of courses that allow you to explore different fields and higher education institutions.
You can check if you are entitled to a study voucher in the Opin.fi service, starting from 5 August 2026. Logging in to the service is secure with Suomi.fi e-Identification, and young people entitled to the study voucher can start using it immediately by activating it. Studies paid for with a voucher are selected either in the Opin.fi service or on the higher education institution’s website, and the student is directed to the higher education institution’s online shop to register and pay.
What is the study voucher?
- The study voucher is a payment instrument that you can use to pay for open studies in Finnish or Swedish at Finnish universities, as of 5 August 2026.
- Value: 30 study credits for open higher education studies.
- For whom: The study voucher can be received by those who have completed their first upper secondary qualification between 1 December 2025 and 31 July 2028, are under 29 years of age on the date of graduation and have applied in the first or second joint application of higher education institutions in the spring or in the autumn joint application, but have not been admitted or accepted a study place.
- Validity: Two years from the date of issue. The person entitled to the study voucher must register for studies within two years of the date on which they became entitled to the study voucher. The right to a study voucher is granted when all the results of the higher education joint application process are announced and admission from the waitlist has also ended. You can use the voucher at your own pace, and you do not need to use it all at once.
- How it works: Check your right to a study voucher and activate it at Opin.fi from 5 August 2026 onwards.
- Background details: The study voucher is a temporary pilot project by the Ministry of Education and Culture, valid from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2030.
- More information on the study voucher: opin.fi/en/opintoseteli