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Published: 18 April 2018

Education leading to a higher university of applied sciences degree increased further

According to Statistics Finland's Education Statistics, around 129,000 students attended education leading to a university of applied sciences degree and good 12,000 students education leading to a higher university of applied sciences degree. The number of university of applied sciences degrees completed was 23,500 and that of higher university of applied sciences degrees 2,800. The number of students attending education leading to a higher university of applied sciences degree grew by nearly 11 per cent and the number of degrees by around 10 per cent from the previous year. There were no great changes in the number of students and degrees in education leading to a university of applied sciences degree.

Students and completed degrees in universities of applied sciences from 2002 to 2017

Biggest fields clearly gendered

It has been possible to study for a university of applied sciences degree in education arranged as daytime or multiform studies from 2015 onwards. A total of 103,200 students studied in daytime programmes and 25,900 in multiform programmes in 2017.

Women made up 52 per cent of students attending education leading to a university of applied sciences degree. Around two in three, or 65 per cent, of students in education leading to a higher university of applied sciences degree were women.

At around 30 per cent of all students, there were most students in education leading to a university of applied sciences degree in the field of health and welfare. More than four out of five of them were women, 83 per cent. The field of technology was the second biggest, where 23 per cent of students were studying. Of them, 84 per cent were men. The third biggest was the field of business, administration and law, where around one-fifth of university of applied sciences students were studying. In total, around three-quarters of all students in education leading to a university of applied sciences degree were studying in these three fields.

In education leading to a higher university of applied sciences degree the number of students was also highest in the field of health and welfare, one-third of all students. Slightly more than every fourth student in education leading to a higher university of applied sciences degree was studying in the field of business, administration and law and around every fifth in technology.

The number of students was highest at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, 16,400, and the second highest at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, 10,400. The next most students were studying at the universities of applied sciences of Tampere, Turku and South-Eastern Finland, all of which had well over 9,000 students. The smallest universities of applied sciences by number of students were Åland University of Applied Sciences, which had 521 students, and the Police University College with 806 students.

Women completed good 60 per cent of all degrees

Most university of applied sciences degrees were completed in the field of health and welfare, 37 per cent. Eighty-seven per cent of them were completed by women. The second most degrees were completed in the field of business, administration and law, 21 per cent. Two-thirds of these degrees were completed by women. The number of degrees completed was the third highest, 18 per cent, in the field of technology, where good four-fifths of degrees were completed by men. Women completed around 62 per cent of university of applied sciences degrees.

The number of higher university of applied sciences degrees completed was also highest in the field of health and welfare, 36 per cent, and the second highest in the field of business, administration and law, 22 per cent. Women completed 70 per cent of all higher university of applied sciences degrees.

Completed university of applies sciences degrees from 2008 to 2017

The highest number of degrees was attained at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, slightly over 3,000, and the lowest at Åland University of Applied Sciences, 60. More detailed time series data on university of applied sciences students and degrees according to education and university of applied sciences, for example, are available in the tables in databases .

Source: Education. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Jukka Jalolahti 029 551 3588, koulutustilastot@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Students in universities of applied sciences and completed university of applied sciences degrees 1995 to 2017 (18.4.2018)

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Updated 18.4.2018