Membership

The Student Union of the University of Vaasa membership fee for bachelor's or master's degree students for academic year 2023-2024 is 83 € or when paid seperately 44 €/semester. 

Post-graduate student membership fee for the academic year of 2023-2024 is 45 € and a single semester membership fee is 23 €. Post-graduate student membership fee is lower, but the benefits are also more limited compared to those of undergraduate or exchange students. Post-graduate students are not eligible for the student meal benefit, FSHS services or Finnish Railways (VR) and Matkahuolto student discounts. For post-graduate students, student union membership is voluntary.

NOTE! From January 2021, University students entitled to the FSHS services will pay the student healthcare fee to Kela. More information about paying the healthcare fee can be found from here.

New students pay the membership fee during the registration sessions at the beginning of their studies. Existing students pay their membership fee through Peppi when registering their attendance. We highly recommend registration and Student Union fee payment to be done via Peppi. In case you've lost your password, you can apply for new one here.

In case you can’t register via Peppi and need the Student Union account information for the payment, please visit the Student Union service office or email us ylioppilaskunta@vyy.fi. If an existing student pays due membership fees using a service other than Peppi, they have to take the payment receipt to the University Student Office so that a confirmation of enrolment can be entered in the University information system. With payment through Peppi, this registration is done automatically.

The Student Union membership fee is paid annually by 15.9. In the spring semester, the deadline is 31.1.

Refund of the membership fee

Any student who has paid membership fee incorrectly, declared absence or completed their studies may apply for a refund of the Student Union’s membership fee. For more information please contact Secretary General of the Student Union (paasihteeri@vyy.fi).

All refund applications are made with the application for refund form online. You can apply for the refund via this form. 

We do not accept printed forms anymore.

Required attachments must be submitted to the Student Union via e-mail: paasihteeri@vyy.fi or via mail

Student Union/ membership refunds
Yliopistonranta 5
65200 Vaasa.

If the student applies for reimbursement of their membership fee, they must submit their student card to the Student Union. In order to get the academic year sticker removed. This is the precondition for any reimbursement.

The application must be made and the attachment must be submitted:

• During the autumn semester: by 30.9.
• During the spring semester: by 31.1.

Please notice that the reimbursements are made after the application period has ended. Any applications submitted after the deadlines above or with insufficient information will not be processed.

The student card is a proof of membership for Student Union members. A student card carrier gets all student discounts, both locally and nationally.

The student card is used as identification when visiting the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) offices and in lunch restaurants for obtaining the Kela meal subsidy for students. In addition to that, students receive significant national discounts including VR railway and Matkahuolto bus tickets. In addition, VYY offers its own local benefits, which can be found via Pivo-application.

Digital student cards are ordered via Pivo. Before ordering a student card, a student must have an active membeship with their student union and the status in Peppi must be attending. Digital card receives the information via Peppi. There are digital and plastic student cards, both of which may be used equally as proof of student status. A student may choose to order both forms of student card, or only one of them.

Digital student card

The digital student card Pivo is available on iOS and Android smart phones. In order to use the app, please make sure you are registered as “attending” for this term in the university registry. Please note, that Pivo will stop working in a few days after your graduation and if you are not registered as an attending student, regardless of what the app would say on the length of how long the card would work.

In case you have any problems regarding the digital student card, please visit the Pivo website or contact the Student Union via ylioppilaskunta@vyy.fi.

You can also use the Pivo, which is ready to use right away.

Plastic student card

Plastic student cards are ordered and paid online.

Before the arrival of newly ordered student cards in autumn, the receipt for Student Union membership fee payment will be used as a temporary student ID on campus and should therefore be kept.

The plastic student card is valid for the entire period of study and it is updated annually with a valid academic year sticker.

We only give out academic year stickers to student cards with the VYY logo or University of Vaasa-text on it, not to the student cards of other universities or institutes of higher education.

If you have any questions related to student cards and academic year stickers, please contact us via ylioppilaskunta@vyy.fi.

What if my student card goes missing?

You may order a new one. Once the card has arrived, remember to collect a new academic year sticker!

Please read the instructions carefully before ordering the card!

In order to get the student card:

• all the new students will be registered as University students at the beginning of each academic year (1st of August and 1st of January). Ordering the student card is not possible before that date.
• you need to register yourself as attending to the university and pay the student union membership fee.
• you have either a credit card or a possibility to use online banking. The card costs 10 euros.
• you have an appropriate photo of yourself. Make sure the photo is a face photo resembling a passport photo: well-lit and clear, preferably with a light and neutral background. If you don’t have such a photo, you can take one with your phone.

Please remember that

• if you are studying for a Master's degree, you are entitled to blue student card
• if you are a post-graduate (=doctoral) student, you are entitled to green student card
• blue and green student cards have significant differences in discounts, so make sure you'll order the right one! In case you're unsure which card is the right one for you, please contact us yliopppilaskunta@vyy.fi and state your student number
• if you have ordered a wrong card type or a card with a photo that does not meet the criteria, you will have to order a new card that meets the criteria. The payments for false orders will not be refunded.
• if the card is not collected within 2 years, the card will become the student union’s property and it will be destroyed.

When you have ordered the card

• The order will go directly to the card manufacturer. The estimated manufacturing time is 1-2 weeks.
• You don't get an arrival notice when the card is ready to be picked up. Come by the service office and ask if it has arrived.
• When collecting your card, you must have a valid photo identification (passport, driver’s license or an official ID card).
• The student card can be collected from VYY service office in Domus Bothnica. Please check the opening hours.

If you are unable to collect your card from VYY service office, the student card can be sent to you via mail. In order to get your student card via mail, the applicant should mail a photo copy of your picture ID and a return envelope with postage paid and the return address written on it to the VYY Service Office address:

Vaasan yliopiston ylioppilaskunta/ opiskelijakortit
Yliopistonranta 5
65200 VAASA

Please note that VYY is not responsible for any lost mail containing student cards, so the safest and quickest way is to pick up the student card in person.

Privacy notice

Click here to order plastic student card

Distribution of stickers starts on on the 1st of August each year. Spring semester stickers are available starting on the 1st of January. The academic year sticker can be picked up at the Domus Bothnica building, where the VYY service office is located.

The autumn semester sticker is valid until the end of January of the following year, while the spring semester and full academic year stickers are valid until the end of September of that year. Please note that FSHS services require a paid membership fee already from 1.8. onwards! The autumn membership fee must be paid before going to an FSHS appointment after the 1st of August.

The academic year sticker is always attached directly to the student card by a Student Union employee. We do not hand out the stickers separately. If the sticker is picked up by someone other than the student themselves, the person picking up the sticker must have a power of attorney. The academic year sticker will only be given out to a student card that has the VYY logo on it, and only after the Student Union membership fee has been paid and the membership is registered as ‘attending’ in Peppi.

NOTE! Stickers to student cards equipped with the payment feature can be received only in person by picking them up at the VYY office! If you cannot visit Vaasa before the expiration date of the sticker, please contact the us at ylioppilaskunta@vyy.fi.

If you are unable to retrieve your sticker from Vaasa yourself

There are two different options for obtaining the academic year sticker from outside Vaasa:

1) Via mail

All holders of student cards without the payment feature (even if the payment feature of a payment feature card has not been activated, it must not be mailed) can get an academic year sticker via mail.

In order to change an academic year sticker via mail, the applicant should mail a valid student card, a photo copy of your picture ID and a return envelope with postage paid and the return address written on it to the VYY Service Office address:

Vaasan yliopiston ylioppilaskunta/ opiskelijakortit
Yliopistonranta 5
65200 VAASA

Please note that all semester stickers are issued only directly to a student card. Sending stickers alone by mail is not possible. VYY is not responsible for any lost mail containing student cards, so the safest and quickest way is to pick up the academic year sticker in person. At peak times the processing and returning of the card may take up to few weeks.

2) Pick-up from another student union

If mail delivery is not possible, another option is to pick up a sticker for the card from the student union of another university.

Before you begin, please contact VYY. The easiest way is to send an email to the Student Union at ylioppilaskunta@vyy.fi and tell us what is the most suitable location / student union for you to pick up your sticker. Please include your student number in your email. VYY will check your enrolment status and pass on the necessary information to the student union in question.

The sticker must be picked up from the student union in question during office hours on weekdays. Below is a list of participating student unions and links to office hours of their student union offices. When picking up a sticker, you will need a student card and an identity card. Picking up a sticker from another student union requires a payment of service fee of EUR 5 to cover the cost of the additional work.

Participating student unions:

AYY (Espoo)
ISYY (Joensuu, Kuopio)
JYY (Jyväskylä)
LTKY (Lappeenranta)
LYY (Rovaniemi)
OYY (Oulu)
TaiYo (Helsinki)
TREY (Tampere)
TYY (Turku)
ÅAS (Turku)

The VYY alumni association is the Student Union Alumni Association of the University of Vaasa, which was founded in 2012. The association’s goal is to bring together active Student Union members from different eras. The Association also works in close cooperation with the Student Union and aims to contribute to the Student Union’s activities through its own network.

The Alumni Association organizes annual alumni events where current and future alumni are gathered.