VYY does not second proposal to limit rights to study

The Student Union of the University of Vaasa does not second the Government’s proposal to limit higher education students to only having one right to study a degree of a certain level at any given time. VYY issued a statement regarding the matter on 29 August, 2025.

In effect, this change to legislation would mean that accepting a right to study would lead to the termination of other rights to study on the same or lower level. The law would first affect degree programmes beginning on 1 January, 2027.

The Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government strives to raise higher education levels of young adults to 50 percent by 2030. In its statement, VYY says that the effects of these proposed changes concerning universities and universities of applied sciences will be weaker than expected. VYY does not share the proposal’s view that degrees accumulate to individuals unnecessarily.

VYY says that the proposed changes will significantly weaken the individual’s basic educational rights, because they limit the possibilities of creating individual study paths. The student union states that admissions must be fair, equal, and supportive of students’ futures.

Instead of the measures suggested in the proposal, VYY would develop transferring between study programmes and invest in student counselling through sufficient core funding. VYY states that the quotas for first-time applicants suffice in directing study places to those without a right to study.

The entire statement can be found in Finnish at Lausuntopalvelu.

For more information

Heidi Elers
Board member, Educational Affairs
044 324 8962
heidi.elers@vyy.fi

Elli Uusi-Kokko
Advocacy Specialist
044 324 8961
eva@vyy.fi