What impact would tuition fees in higher education have on a Finland that is in desperate need of skills, knowledge, and growth? What impact would it have on Lappeenranta and Lahti?
The Programme for Eastern Finland, launched by the Finnish government in 2024, aims for clean growth, competitiveness, vitality, and a skilled workforce (1). In August, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment launched preparations for a pilot project on a Special Economic Zone in Eastern Finland, which will advance the objectives of the aforementioned program (2). According to the program, strengthening the vitality of Eastern Finland is “an economic and security-related issue affecting all of Finland and the EU.”
Higher education institutions, which are seen as sources of expertise, innovation, and growth, offer solutions to these challenges. There is a clear need to invest in education and a skilled workforce in Eastern Finland. The city of Lahti has also recognized the irreplaceable role of higher education institutions and students in the vitality of the entire city (3).
Efforts to raise educational standards are underway both nationwide and at the city level, yet the issue of tuition fees for higher education degrees has entered the public discourse. The Student Union of LUT University believes that tuition-free higher education is one of the cornerstones of Finland’s growth, and is strongly against the expansion of tuition fees. The right of students from Finland and EU- and EEA-countries to have tuition free education must be preserved.
The first step toward paid degrees is about to be taken: The Finnish government has prepared a proposal for Parliament regarding the open university’s right to grant degrees (4). Granting the open university the right to award degrees would make it possible to buy one’s way to a degree rather than applying to a university through a certificate or entrance exam. The Ministry of Finance has also proposed charging tuition for a second degree as a solution for Finland’s economic growth (5). This would make continuing education an option only for those who can afford it. If the possibility of paying for degrees is opened up, how long will it be before all degrees require tuition fees?
Charging fees for degrees and higher education poses a serious risk to eastern Finland, university cities, and the goals that current growth projects are striving to achieve. Since Eastern Finland has lower incomes than the west, fewer people have the means to pay for their education (6). Päijät-Häme suffers from high levels of poverty among families with children (7). The intergenerational transmission of higher education is already strong, and tuition fees would only reinforce this trend. The families not wealthy enough would be unable to pursue a good education or a higher income level, thus perpetuating the cycle.
We are already seeing how paying tuition fees correlates with poorer health, reduced well-being, and financial worries. A significant portion of the students who pay tuition, so international students from outside the EU/EEA, work alongside their studies, which makes studying more difficult and taxing. (OLS 2026.) Students should have the opportunity to focus on their studies without being forced to work alongside their studies, and tuition fees reduce this opportunity. One might also ask how many people would want to come study in a region where there are no jobs available if working were mandatory. Due to high unemployment, the appeal of campus towns as places to study could decline if students have to look for a job in addition to a place in school. In Lahti, LUT’s other campus city, the unemployment rate is the worst among Finland’s major cities (8).
The Student Union of LUT University LTKY demands that higher education remains tuition-free for Finnish students and students from EU and EEA countries. Degrees after your first degree must also remain tuition-free to ensure that the opportunity for further education remains equally accessible to all. Members of Parliament and other politicians representing the cities of Lappeenranta and Lahti must recognize how charging tuition fees would threaten the cities’ levels of education, their appeal as university towns, and residents’ opportunities to pursue higher education.
Sara Taskila, Educational policy representative
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Sources
1. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö. Itäisen Suomen ohjelma. https://tem.fi/itaisen-suomen-ohjelma
2. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö. 2026. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö käynnistää itäisen Suomen erityistalousaluekokeilun valmistelun.
3. Lahti. 2026. Tämä taistelu on voitettava – Lahti kasvaa ja kehittyy panostamalla ympäristöön ja koulutukseen.
4. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö. 2025. Hallituksen esityksen luonnos laeiksi yliopistolain, ammattikorkeakoululain, opintotukilain 4 §:n ja korkeakouluopiskelijoiden opiskeluterveydenhuollosta annetun lain 2 §:n muuttamisesta. https://okm.fi/hanke?tunnus=OKM062:00/2025
5. Valtiovarainministeriö. 2026. Luota tulevaan: Valtiovarainministeriön virkapuheenvuoro. https://vm.fi/virkapuheenvuoro-2026#/
6. Tilastokeskus. 14ww – Tulotaso, tuloerot, pienituloiset ja perusturvan varassa olevat asuntoväestössä alueittain, 1995-2024, Muuttuja “Asuntoväestön pienituloisuusaste”.
7. Itla. 2025. Lapsiperheköyhyys datana. https://itla.fi/lapsiperhekoyhyys-datana/
8. Yle. 2026. Työttömyyden kova ydin löytyy Lahdesta. https://yle.fi/a/74-20207136