If you are an exchange undergraduate student at any of the Finnish higher education institutions that exist all over the country one of the best things you can do is paying the corresponding student union fee in order to get a student card (opiskelijakortti).
Finnish student unions (ylioppilaskunta, or studentkår in Swedish) watch for student’s rights and take care of important matters like assuring their access to health care services. They are responsible for the voice of the students and their elected members are entitled by law to be present at every administrative body, including the board of the university.
Student unions also organise extra-curricular activities such as sports and cultural events, as well as parties. Depending on the institution of study, the student union might also provide other services.
For example, the Student Union of the University of Helsinki (HYY) owns and rents apartments to fulltime undergraduate students. Others offer nursery facilities for mothers while going to lectures and a network of restaurants where students can have meals at very cheap prices by presenting the corresponding student card.
Each university has a student union and the membership is compulsory by law for all Finnish undergraduates and to those international students who are studying for a Finnish degree.
For exchange students, joining the student union and paying the membership fee is voluntary but highly recommended.
When you do it you will get a student card issued together by your local student union and by the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL). This card guarantees a range of benefits locally or nationwide such as access to free health care services, discounts on public transport and affordable meals.
In the universities of applied sciences, student unions are slightly different, they are named opiskelijakunta, the membership is not mandatory, but benefits are similar.
Fees and deadlines
In order to enjoy the benefits of holding a student card, first you must gain a place at any of the 14 universities or the 23 universities of applied sciences that exist in Finland. Then you must pay the student union membership fees. Then you are ready to order your student card.
The student union fee for basic degree students is normally paid when registering at the study institution. Those students who intend to stay in Finland just for one semester (autumn or spring term) are allowed to pay the half of the fee.
The student union membership fee is 116 euros for the academic year 2018-2019 (or 58 euros per semester). Fees can be paid to some student unions in advance via money transfer from you home country. Others provide after completing all the registration processes an invoice with the rest of the enrolment papers that can be paid at the Finnish banks.
The deadline to pay for the autumn semester is 30th September and for the spring September is 31st January.
You may have to face also an additional charge for the issuance of the card. This depends on your university and the type of card you want.
For instance, members of the Student Union of the University of Tampere can order online for the price of 10€ a basic blue card with the sticker for the corresponding academic period. They can also download the Pivo digital student card app HERE, that allows to prove the student membership in case they lose, forget or don´t want to carry around their physical cards.
Members of the student unions of the universities of Turku and Helsinki use Frank cards that have to be ordered online after registering and paying the fees.
Frank allows to choose among several different types of cards: an electronic card to be shown with the mobile phone costs only 2,90€. A basic plastic card costs 16,10€ plus a delivery fee. There are other Frank cards, for instance with payment features or with the ISIC license.
If your university provides Frank services you can order your card at Frank’s website HERE
With your student card you may enjoy:
- Free healthcare services organized by the Finnish Student Health Care Services (FSHS). The public health nurse, GP and laboratory tests are free of charge, as are first year students’ first health examination and dentist appointment.
- Discounts up to 50% on VR train tickets and on long distance bus tickets with Matkahuolto.
- Cheap lunches at the university restaurants and cafeterias. You can have abundant and good quality government-subsidised meals for 2,60€. Usually they include a main dish, salad, bread, water or another non-alcoholic drink (milk or juice). Students must show their student cards each time they use this benefit if they want to have the student-priced lunch.
- Other discounts at shops and restaurants (not on alcoholic beverages).
- Free legal counselling, counselling in student-related matters.
- Participation in sports events, cultural and other activities.
Exchange students might feel at the beginning of their stays that the student union fee is just another annoying extra cost to be added to the numerous expenses they have to face when settling in Finland. But they will change their minds soon because it will take just few weeks to get the invested money back in the form of discounts. So, if you accept our advice do not hesitate and join your student union!
