Higher education preparatory programme for immigrants

You can find the application instructions for studies starting in autumn 2026 on the Opintopolku.fi portal.

For students accepted to the preparatory training through an entrance exam (30 ECTS), the studies are free of charge (0 euros).

In addition, you may apply for the following financial support:

Studying with unemployment benefits:

If you are unemployed and receive a study place in MAVA preparatory programme, you must agree on your studies with your personal employment specialist. In this case, send them the Metropolia’s MAVA webpage from the Uusimaa Employment Services Service Manual and inform them that you have applied to or been accepted into MAVA programme. Also mention that the studies last a maximum of 6 months. Your employment specialist will then assess your situation and decide whether your studies can be supported with unemployment benefits.

Student financial aid:

Preparatory programme for immigrants has been eligible for student financial aid since 1 August 2014. Student financial aid is granted for the duration of full-time studies.

Months of higher education financial aid used for preparatory training are not counted towards the maximum support period for degree studies. However, they are included in the total support period for all higher education studies.

For more information, visit the KELA website,or contact Metropolia’s student financial aid services: +358 40 522 2718, opintotuki [at] metropolia.fi.

The instruction is delivered either as a combination of on-campus and online learning or entirely online. Participation in teaching is an important and mandatory part of completing the studies.

The studies include:

• group work
• guided study under the supervision of a teacher
  • use of the Moodle learning environment and remote communication tools such as Zoom and Teams
• Independent study
  • familiarising yourself with learning materials
  • completing assignments by the given deadlines

The training must be completed within the allocated study right period. It is not possible to register as absent.

Students are granted a fixed-term right to study, which cannot generally be extended. If the studies are not completed, the student must reapply to the programme.

If you have previously completed preparatory studies at Metropolia UAS, some of your prior studies may be recognised when reapplying. Competence is demonstrated in a manner defined by the teacher.

Studies are assessed either numerically on a scale of 0–5 or on a pass/fail basis. The teacher will go through the assessment criteria with students at the beginning of the course.

Students who complete the training will receive a certificate. The certificate can either be collected from the campus or sent by mail for an additional fee.

For online studies, you will need a computer and a headset with a microphone in order to participate in teaching. For contact (in-person) teaching, you will also need note-taking tools (such as a pen, eraser, and notebook).

• Intel i5/i7 processor (minimum 8th generation), AMD Ryzen 5/7, or an equivalent processor
• At least 8 GB of RAM
• SSD storage with a minimum of 256 GB

The recommended lifespan of a laptop is at least four years.

The recommended operating system depends on the degree programme and specialization. In general, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X are safe choices for a laptop operating system.

Important information related to your studies will be sent to your Metropolia email account, so please monitor it actively. You can log in with your username at mail.metropolia.fi. No information will be sent to personal email addresses.

Teaching takes place in the Moodle learning environment, where you will also find all course materials.