Metropolia’s ethical principles aim to prevent misconduct in international education export

An article published by Ilta-Sanomat on 26 May 2025 (in Finnish) reports that contracts between Indian students and agents, obtained by journalists, contain unethical terms. Although these contracts were not made by Metropolia’s direct contractual partners, Metropolia recognises its responsibility for the ethical integrity of the entire education export chain and is committed to thoroughly investigating the matter.

In the case highlighted by Ilta-Sanomat, the contracts are legally agreements between an external party and their own clients, meaning Metropolia does not have direct oversight of them. However, Metropolia’s contracts require that both our partners and their clients, collaborators and subcontractors comply with Metropolia’s ethical guidelines.

For direct recruitment of fee-paying students, Metropolia uses its own agents, who are listed on the Metropolia.fi website. Within Metropolia, a designated person is responsible for managing these agreements in collaboration with our legal team, which drafts and monitors the contract terms.

A contractual relationship with Metropolia requires compliance with Metropolia’s Code of Conduct. In addition to these guidelines, Finnish higher education institutions have developed ethical code for agents, which is also available on Metropolia’s website. According to these guidelines, education agents and consultants are expected to prioritise the interests of the student, market study opportunities and life in the destination country truthfully as well as comply with the laws and regulations of both their home and destination countries. Furthermore, agents and consultants are expected to promote equality, accessibility and inclusivity.

In April 2025, Metropolia established a working group for responsible internationalisation. Its purpose is to strengthen awareness and understanding of responsible international practices and to help manage related risks.

Last autumn, the Board of Metropolia also decided to include the international business operations as one of the targets for internal audit during 2025. The audit will be carried out by an external party. The purpose of the internal audit is, among other things, to ensure the ethical conduct of practices and processes.

More information

Simo Mustila
Deputy CEO
Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
+358 44 220 3300
simo.mustila [at] metropolia.fi (simo[dot]mustila[at]metropolia[dot]fi)