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Published: 23 April 2013

University students numbered 169,000 in 2012

According to Statistics Finland, a total of 169,000 students attended university education leading to a degree in 2012. The number of students grew by one per cent compared to the previous year. 96,200 students were studying for a university Bachelor's degree and 48,000 for a higher university degree (Master). There were 4,200 students studying for professional specialisation in medicine, veterinary and dentistry and 1,900 studying for licentiate's degrees. The share of those studying for a doctoral degree among all students was 11 per cent, or 18,700 students.

University students by fields of education ( Educational Administration's classification 1995) in 2012

In 2012, the highest numbers of students were studying in the administration and commerce sector, 26 per cent. There were nearly as many students in the humanities and education, 25 per cent. The third most students were studying in the technology and transport sector, 19 per cent. The proportion of women of all students attending education leading to a degree was 54 per cent but the variation was large when viewed by fields of education. In the humanities and education the proportion of women was 76 per cent and in the health and social services sector it was 69 per cent, but in the technology and transport sector the proportion was only 22 per cent.

There were most students at the University of Helsinki, 36,200. The second most students were found at Aalto University, 19,600 and the third most at the University of Turku, 17,700. The smallest university was the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts with 280 students.

At universities, 17,100 students started studying for a university Bachelor's degree and 6,200 started studying for a higher university degree (Master). The data on entry into universities have become more detailed. From 2012 onwards, the data are given as number of students that have started studying for the degree in question for the first time at the university in question. Previously, this was the number of students that had been enrolled as students for the first time at the university in question.

Age of new students studying for university Bachelor's degrees in 2012, %

Nearly one-fifth of students starting to study for a university Bachelor's degree are aged 25 or over. Thirty per cent were aged 19, 21 per cent were aged 20 and 13 per cent were aged 21. Of all students studying for a university Bachelor's degree, half were aged 25 or over.

More detailed time series data on university students and new students by education and university are available in the appendix tables .

Source: Education. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Anna Loukkola 09 1734 3678, koulutustilastot@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

Publication in pdf-format (250.5 kB)

Tables

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. New university students and total number of students in universities by level of education and gender in 2012 (23.4.2013)
• Appendix table 2. New university students and total number of students in universities by region in 2012 (23.4.2013)
• Appendix table 3. New university students and total number of students by universities in 2012 (23.4.2013)
• Appendix table 4. New university students studying for university Bachelor's degrees and students by age in 2012 (23.4.2013)

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Updated 23.4.2013