Today, I continue with the discussion on scholarship opportunities, and the Finnish Government scholarship opportunities to be specific.

There are a number of channels where one can find key information about the Government of Finland scholarship opportunities.

The government scholarships

According to information, aside of Finnish universities offering scholarships there is the scholarships opportunity offered by the Finnish government.

One can find information about this from the many portals that give guidance to such opportunities. The Government of Finland scholarship is fully funded.

Basically, the scholarship is open to students pursuing the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in Finnish universities. There are currently more than 5,000 scholarships for Europe without the IELTS, which is the International English Language Testing System (see, www.opportunitiescorners.info).   

Eligibility for scholarships

As I wrote some time ago, the educational scholarships in Finland are aimed at gifted students who come from non-European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), who are liable to tuition fees and who apply for international Master’s programmes at Finnish universities (see www.studyinfinland.fi).

This suggests that a foreign student is only eligible if he/she is required to pay tuition fees for the studies being pursued because they are coming from a non-EU country. Finland’s education had been free even for foreign students until 2017 when this changed.

There is also the category of Doctoral Fellowships as a form of scholarship for doctoral level studies and research at Finnish universities.

More importantly, students of any nationality are eligible to apply for the government scholarship, according to information on the opportunitiescorners.info portal. Applications open usually in January each year.

University programmes and scholarships

What one needs to consider is that the government scholarship is tied to the programmes offered by the various universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS)

Again, as I said some time ago each university or university of applied sciences has its own scholarship system. Therefore, the government scholarship apparently widens the scholarship opportunities generally in Finland.

What the student only needs to do is to apply for the scholarship from the university in question at the same time when he/she applies for admission or later from the government’s scholarship programme.

The student needs to search for the degree programme he/she would be interested in applying to and follow up with checking the scholarship options and procedures, which can be found from the university’s own admissions info pages and other portals.

Good performance

It is good to keep in mind that the chances of a foreign student securing a scholarship to study would depend on the student’s high grades.

The chances would not be bright if the student had low grades. Concerning funding opportunities, the information is that the educational scholarships in Finland are aimed at gifted students mainly coming from outside the EU/EEA.

Moreover, as I keep saying, the fact that Finland is encouraging or trying to attract foreign students does not mean it should be a dumping ground for any low level stuff.

There is the need for international students to perform admirably, so as to have the chance for a scholarship.

Potential students need to study hard or be serious with their current studies in their home countries and adhere to advice or guidance from their teachers/lecturers.

This will undoubtedly help the students score good grades and enhance their chances for a scholarship to pursue further studies abroad and build their careers when they are back home after their studies. Thank you.

The writer is a Ghanaian lecturer at

University of Helsinki in Finland

By Perpetual Crentsil