Financial matters when studying at TAMK

Tuition fees | Scholarships | Cost of living | Financing your studies | Financies and residence permit

You will be exempt from tuition fees if you are a non-EU/EEA citizen but have one of the following residence permits:

• permanent residence permit card in Finland (type P)
• EU residence permit for third-country citizens with long-term residence permit card in Finland (type P-EU)
• EU Blue Card in Finland
• EU family member's residence card in Finland
• Brexit residence permit card (type SEU = Right of residence under the withdrawal agreement, or P SEU = Right of permanent residence under the withdrawal agreement)
• a residence permit on the basis of temporary protection in Finland.

You are also exempt if you have a residence permit based on family ties and your family member has a permanent residence permit or EU citizenship. In addition, a continuous residence permit card in Finland (type A), may exempt you from paying tuition fees if it is granted on grounds other than studying.

However, you are required to pay tuition fees in the following cases:

• If your first residence permit in Finland was granted for the purpose of studying, you are required to pay tuition fees, even if you later obtained a continuous residence permit (type A) on other grounds.
• If you have a continuous residence permit (type A) based on family ties, and your family member originally came to Finland on a residence permit granted for studying, you are also required to pay tuition fees.
• If your continuous residence permit (type A) is granted for studying, you are required to pay tuition fees.

The exempting residence permit must be valid when at least until 1 August i.e. when the study right commences. Please note that a residence permit in another EU/EEA country does not exempt you from the tuition fee.

If you are unsure about whether you are subject to tuition fees, please see Do I have to pay tuition fees? section on the Studyinfo.fi site.

For more details, see TAMK Student's Guide.

For continuing students, the payment deadlines are by 31 May (1st installment) and 31 August (2nd installment). Exceptions e.g. for transfer students or double degree students are given to accepted students in student selection letters (conditional offer letter). 

TAMK has partnered with Flywire to accept payments from international students worldwide. It is an easy and secure way to make tuition fee payments in your own currency, using local payment methods from the convenience of your home. 

Pay now with Flywire

More on tuition fees in Student's Guide

TAMK offers scholarship options for all degree students who are subject to individual tuition fees (with the exception of tailored groups / commissioned education).

The TAMK system is cohort-based, giving each new student the ability to predict and influence their own costs throughout their studies. Any changes made to the system will only be applied to previously enrolled cohorts, if it is beneficial to the students in question.

Scholarship waivers

All scholarships are awarded as waivers or discounts from payable amounts. No need to wait for reimbursement afterwards. Scholarship waivers in Year 1 are awarded based on accepting the study place offer by a certain date (Bachelor's degrees) or pre-payment of full annual amount (Master's degrees). Continuing students are considered based on study success while at TAMK. Tuition fees are regularly paid in two installments, and the waivers are applied to cover the 2nd installment either partially or completely.

Student who has been found guilty of academic fraud, or has received a written warning issued by TAMK, or has been temporarily suspended due to a case of fraud shall not be granted scholarship waivers. 

Bachelor's degrees: Early Bird

Upon student selection, when receiving a Conditional Offer Letter from TAMK, you will also receive information on how to get the Early Bird scholarship waiver. In a nutshell - if you accept our study place offer within 14 days and pay the 1st installment of your first year tuition fee, you will automatically be awarded a 50% scholarship waiver to cover the 2nd installment due in August. Early Bird scholarship waiver is not available to students selected from waiting list, who have less than 14 days to accept their study place.

Bachelor's degrees: Academic Award

All Bachelor's degree students who reach 60 credits / academic year are issued a 25% scholarship waiver. Credits must be completed in the previous academic year (1 August - 31 July). Credits must also be in the study registry by the credits check on 15 August.

To receive a 50% scholarship waiver, students must reach the 60 credit / academic year AND submit a Finnish language test (YKI) result by 15 August.  

Language study support: TAMK course offer  /  Tampere University course offer  /  Outside providers

Master's degrees

Newly admitted students who choose to pay the full year fee in one go by 31 May annually, are issued an Early Bird discount of 20% of the annual fee.

Those that continue on to 2nd study year have the following limits for their Academic Award scholarship waivers:

• 60 cr / year = 50 % scholarship waiver
• 45 cr / year = 25 % scholarship waiver

More on scholarships in Students' Guide

Make sure that you have adequate funding and enough of financial means to pay for possible tuition fees, your studies and living expenses for the entire period of your study.

How much does it cost to live in Tampere?

The monthly living costs for a single student in Tampere for basics such as food, accommodation and transportation are on average 800-1200 euros, depending on your personal spending habits.

Examples on typical monthly expenses:

• Student accommodation (usually a cellural or one room apartment) costs typically 200–600 €. Do note that renting from the private market is likely to cost from 600 € upwards. Studying at TAMK does not quarantee you a student apartment.
• Local transportation fees start from 45 €, based on the cost for 30 days mobile ticket for students. See public transportation system Nysse for more info.
• Food costs 250-450 €. The estimate includes one average priced student meal per weekday and groceries at 40–90 €/week.

You can check some specific examples of living costs in Tampere on websites like Numbeo. 

Healthcare fee and health insurance for students

Degree students are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) and must pay an annual health service fee to Kela (Social Insurance Institution of Finland) for each year as an attending student. The healthcare fee entitles you to general health, dental and mental health services. You can find the current amount of the fee on FSHS website.

TAMK does not provide health insurance for international students, so please make sure you have valid health insurance during your studies. Without proper insurance, the costs of treatment at a hospital may rise to several hundreds or thousands of euros if you need hospital care or laboratory tests.

Stu­dent union membership fees

Students can choose whether they wish to join the Student Union Tamko. You can choose an annual payment of 42 € or a multiyear membership. Multiyear membership is the cheapest and easiest membership option for degree students. Half a year memberships are meant for exchange students. See more information on pricing on Tamko's website.

Study materials

There are also occasional expenses such as costs of study material or course books. It is usually not necessary to purchase books as most of the course books are available from the University Library. Therefore, the cost of study material should remain relatively low.

International students who come to Finland only for their studies are usually not covered by the Finnish social security, and thus not entitled to the financial aid for students by the Finnish government. For more information, please visit the Kela website.

Can I work while studying?

Working part-time while studying might be an option to finance your studies. In addition to some useful extra cash, having a part-time job can be a good way of gaining valuable work experience and networks alongside your studies.

International  degree students are allowed to work during their stay in Finland – with certain restrictions. The restrictions have to do with the nationality (EU/EEA or non-EU/EEA) and the nature of employment.

If you are a Nordic or EU/EEA national, you have the right to work in Finland without any work permit or restrictions on hours. Do note that the work should not get in the way of your study progress.

If you come from outside of the EU/EEA countries, you have the right to work part-time with the student's residence status. The amount of part-time work cannot exceed 30 hours a week. For more information on the regulations of study and work, please see MIGRI’s website.

Please note that finding a part-time job in Finland can be quite challenging, especially if you do not have Finnish language skills. Therefore, we strongly encourage our degree students to learn the local language!

Taxation

If you work in Finland, you have to pay taxes on your income, even if you are a student. The taxation policy depends on how long you stay in Finland and on the type of your employment. If you stay in Finland for longer than 6 months, you will be taxed progressively, meaning that your tax rate depends on your annual income level.

Please check the Finnish Tax Administration's website for more information.

Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) requires sufficient financial resources from students applying for residence permit. You must have funds for living in Finland during the entire period of validity of your residence permit. As of November 2024, you need to have at least 800 euros per month at your disposal to be able to pay for your accommodation, food and other needs. More information on the requirements is available on Migri's website.