Study voucher

The Ministry of Education and Culture will launch a new Study Voucher pilot in August 2026. The pilot offers young people the opportunity to explore higher education studies through the Open University or Open University of Applied Sciences before starting degree studies.

The study voucher is a payment method worth 30 ECTS credits that can be used to pay for open studies offered by Finnish higher education institutions.

If you are entitled to the voucher, you can activate it for your use in the Opin.fi service in August 2026, once the higher education admissions from the joint application process are confirmed and admissions from waiting lists have also ended.

The study voucher is valid for two years. You can use it at your own pace – the full value of the voucher does not need to be used at once.

You can receive a study voucher in August 2026 if

• you have completed your first upper secondary qualification in Finland after 1 December 2025,
• you are under 29 years old on the day you graduate with an upper secondary qualification,
• and you applied for a study place in the spring 2026 joint application process but were not admitted or did not accept the place you received from a higher education institution.

Check whether you are entitled to the study voucher and activate it in the Opin.fi service in August.

If you are entitled to the study voucher, you can activate it in the Opin.fi service on 5 August 2026 when the higher education admissions in the joint application process are confirmed and admission from waitlists has also ended. Identify yourself in the service using Suomi.fi e-Identification.

You do not need to apply for the study voucher separately, and its activation is not binding for you. 

You can use the study voucher in full at once or in smaller parts during its period of validity. In total, you can complete 30 ECTS credits with the study voucher over a two-year period.

From August 2026 onwards, you can use the study voucher as a payment method when registering for open higher education courses found in the Opin.fi service.

The Opin.fi service offers a wide range of LAB Open UAS courses, enabling you to explore university of applied sciences studies, find your own direction, or strengthen your language skills.

If the open studies at a higher education institution cannot be found in the Opin.fi service, the study voucher cannot be used to pay for them. For example, some courses may only be available in universities’ own webshops. These studies cannot be paid with the study voucher.

LAB Open University of Applied Sciences offers path studies for degree‑oriented students. These studies have a separate registration procedure in the studyinfo.fi service, and the study fee is paid through LAB’s own webshop. Therefore, the study voucher cannot be used as a payment method for path studies.

The study voucher does not affect any other subsidies or benefits. Those under 25 years of age must apply to two places in the joint application process for higher education in order to receive labour market subsidy. Activating or using the study voucher does not affect your eligibility for labour market subsidy.

The use of the study voucher does not affect the first-time applicant quota.