Helsinki University gets 31,929 applications in spring
Published : 02 Apr 2021, 01:10
A total of 31,929 students (32,541 in 2020) applied to the University of Helsinki in the joint application procedure of Finnish higher education institutions that closed on Wednesday, said the university in a press release.
Of the applicants, 29,919 applied to bachelor’s degree programmes (31,192 in 2020) and 2,083 to master’s degree programmes (1,825 in 2020).
The blended-learning programme in early childhood education, which was opened for application for the first time, had 447 applicants.
The biggest increase in the number of applicants to bachelor’s programmes was recorded in veterinary medicine, which nearly doubled the number of applicants to 1,613 (822 applicants in 2020).
The increase is explained by the fact that applicants were able, for the first time, to apply simultaneously to veterinary medicine and medicine or to veterinary medicine and dentistry.
Interest in the field of education was also considerable: the number of applicants to teacher education grew 40% to 195 (139 applicants in 2020).
The number of applicants to early childhood teacher education increased by more than one-fifth year on year to 810 (664 in 2020). As for the smaller degree programmes, the study track in Italian offered by the university’s Bachelor’s Programme in Languages provided a pleasant surprise by doubling its applicant numbers.
The master’s programmes offered by the University of Helsinki attracted more interest than in the previous years. The Master’s Programme in Psychology had the highest number of applicants: 293. Of the other major programmes (i.e., programmes with more than 100 applicants), the Master’s Programme in Law increased in popularity the most: it had 155 applicants, up by more than 37% from the corresponding number in the previous year.
In the smaller master’s programmes, the Master’s Programme in Translation and Interpreting, the Master’s Programme in Languages, the Master’s Programme in Finnish and Finno-Ugrian Languages and Cultures doubled in popularity. Each of these had approximately 40–50 applicants.
The number of individuals applying through the Open University route, which is not included in the joint application procedure, increased by 33% year on year. The Bachelor’s Programme in Computer Science accounted for most of this increase, receiving a total of 161 applications (98 in 2020). In total, 414 applications were received through the Open University route.
A new blended-learning programme in early childhood education will be launched in autumn 2021 to provide those working in the field with the qualifications required of early childhood education teachers. The Finnish-language option available for application received 411 applications and the Swedish-language option 46.