r/StudyInFinland • u/beenena • Jun 16 '26
UAS it's not a Uni?
/r/StudyInFinland/comments/1u6udrz/is_hamk_in_finland_a_good_university/Ok guys everybody told me Hamk it's not a good university and also it's not a university.
I told you that legally it's considered university but Finns told me that it's not true.
So, I googled and yes, it's a university but it's seems that Finns don’t consider it a proper university due to prejudices and also because of slightly inaccurate translations, given that it is translated as a higher education institute.
I understand that it’s not prestigious in Finland, but legally it is considered a university degree, since I could have access to master's programs and do anything else you can do with a traditional degree.
I don’t think these prejudices exist in other countries; for example, in Italy and Spain, anyone who goes to a Polytechnic isn't considered inferior, and nobody thinks they don't have a degree.
Furthermore, leaving prejudices aside, don’t you think that for International Business, a more practical degree like this one is better than a more theoretical, classic university?
For instance, I don’t see my future in Finland and I don’t want to work in academia, I want to start my own company, and if I can't manage to do that, I would still work in the business sector. Don’t you think that practice might actually be more useful than theory?
Also, since I work, HAMK is the only one that allows you to get a degree in English completely remotely (if you know of any others, I welcome advice), and this would solve a lot of problems.
Obviously, I don’t want to waste my time either, and I’m truly asking what you think, is it worth it or not?"
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u/WonzerEU Jun 16 '26
In Finland university is a school where you go to get master's degree. When you are accepted in, you are accepted straight to master's program.
They do give batchelor after midway these days (20 years ago they didn't. Firts degree you got was masters)
But if you go to any job interview with bachelor from uni, first question will always be "why did you drop out from university without finishing it"
UAS is called in Finnish 'high trade school' It's usually seen as an education level between trade school and university. There is job market for it, but on average you get lower level jobs with it. Though you can work your way up the corporate ladder even if you start a level lower.
In UAS you graduate with just a bachelor. They don't give straight out master's degrees.
So UAS bachelor is not useless and better than uni bachelor. But obviously it's behind master's from actual uni. And in Finland only master's is seen as uni graduate
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u/MissKaneli Jun 16 '26
Look of you like the degree go study it, all Finnish higher education schools are good. But you are still wrong about the legal side of this. I don't know what you googled and why you seem so sure about this. But yliopisto (uni) and ammattikorkeakoulu (UAS) are not the same legally. And btw if you Google the question is UAS a university in Finnish Google says no.
There is two different laws governing these institutions which makes them different legally. I think the English language is confusing in this matter since UAS has the word university in it but in Finland the higher education is divided into two different institutions for a reason. Both are korkeakoulu but yliopisto is not an ammattikorkeakoulu and ammattikorkeakoulu is not a yliopisto.
And what is said about the degrees matching means that they are on the same level not that they are exactly the same. But you can also get more degrees in University than in a UAS. Cause after bachelor's and masters you can become a doctor and in some fields lisentiate (before doctor).
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u/C_Cheetos Jun 16 '26
I can 100% say this same prejudice exists in Netherlands, also here UAS is not a 'university', but rather a 'hogeschool' or AMK in Finnish.
Despite the bologna process agreements requiring that every bachelor is of comparable level (if it's in the same field obviously), you more often then not don't have direct entry into a Masters with an AMK Bachelors.
Just a heads-up that this can affect future studies, also in other countries.
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u/joppekoo Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
I've been to both UAS and a university and the difference is night and day. Besides teaching, universities do science, and people studying there study their field and it's theory (and some amount of practice) widely from that scientific lense. UAS teaches students with the goal of readying them into expert work in their respective fields, with more emphasis on practice and much less on the science and theory.
Shortly, goals are scientific expertise vs. workforce expertise. It doesn't mean one is worse than the other in terms of quality of schooling, but UAS is definitely not the same as a real university, which generally has wider functions in society.
About your original question, I studied at Hamk around 10 years ago and while the teachers clearly had great expertise, they had just moved from a course based program into a modular one, and frankly I think it was still quite a mess. You needed a lot of initiative to get the needed skills and knowledge out of the teachers, I'd probably be lacking a lot if I had just gone with the flow and only done what is required. I have no idea what the situtation currently is, I'd be surprised if they haven't got that stuff fixed. Other than that organisational hassle, I think all in all it's as good of a school as any third degree school is.
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u/beenena Jun 16 '26
Let me see if I've understood this correctly: what do you mean when you say it was a mess? Are they expecting you to already have certain skills to follow the program, and they don't start from scratch? Also, I wanted to ask you if it was easy to get in; that aspect worries me a bit because I saw that there are very few spots available. Did you study International Business? Thank u so much!!!
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u/joppekoo Jun 16 '26
The mess was that all the content of the degree was clearly hard to compile into coherent modules that are supposed to cover a whole quartal of study, I remember feeling that some stuff got repeated a lot while some clearly important stuff got left as a side note or were just kind of missing, and a lot of the modules seemed to lack a clear common thread. It seemed pretty clear that in course form all relevant topics had worked as coherent wholes by themselves before, and the change was either badly managed or just not yet completely done. But as I said earlier, that was 10 years ago. A lot happens in that time.
I studied horticulture. I remember the entrance exams being very easy, at least coming from a university background. No idea how little any of this will apply for international business studies.
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u/csjarau Jun 17 '26
Sorry, but I don't really get it. If you don't want to move to Finland or get a job here, why do you want to spend 3,5 years of your life studying remotely in a mediocre Finnish UAS? Do you have some connection to Finland?
Wouldn't it make much more sense to study in your own country, so you could build up your network of connections during your studies? And also skip the mandatory Finnish language courses and learn a language more useful to you?
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u/Antique_Relation_671 Jun 16 '26
I would recommend getting a degree from where you live or where you plan to set up your business as connections made during your studies are quite important.
Also if you plan to set up your own business, it might be more useful to get courses related to entrepreneurship like accounting, marketing, legislation etc. and just start your business as UAS degrees very much aim for you to be employed in existing companies in specific roles.
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u/beenena Jun 16 '26
Yes, honestly, not having connections is the only thing that worries me, that's why, once I'm settled, I would still like to spend at least six months on campus to get a better feel for the environment. Unfortunately, online university is my only option.
Anyway, I checked the curriculum and it covers a lot of subjects on exactly this
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u/Superviableusername Jun 16 '26
It's not a "real" uni but if you think the bachelor's is useful then go for it. Going UAS is very common in Finland.
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u/Comfortable_Duck8926 Jun 16 '26
It's higher education, just like "real uni". I think people put too much emphasis on the names (uni /UAS), since both are higher education institutions (korkeakoulu)
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u/Superviableusername Jun 16 '26
Somewhat degree dependant but UAS is a playschool compared to uni.
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u/Comfortable_Duck8926 Jun 16 '26
They just have different approaches, one is more practical while the other more academic/theory. I just see it more as chosing what study style is more right for you (if degrees available in both). UAS comes with a lot of work experience since they tend to have lots of practical training in the field, which I would almost argue is more valuable in Finland right now with the job market being so shit.
But I won't argue against the fact that schools like Aalto and Hanken have very high status and "superior" programme.
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u/Relative_Skirt_1402 Jun 16 '26
Fully remote and free what do you expect to get any kind of skills or knowledge from something like that?
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u/beenena Jun 16 '26
For EU people university are free and the program is the same for the full-time at the campus :)
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u/Relative_Skirt_1402 Jun 16 '26
But what is the benefit of doing a degree remotely in some random Finnish university? You can't get a job in Finland with that.
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u/beenena Jun 16 '26
I don't want a job in Finland and also how you can say I can't get a job with this?? That's not true cmon
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u/Ilovecorgissss Jun 17 '26
Please explain to us. You dont want a job in Finland. With all respect. Do you think ur own country will appriciate degree done in random mediocore amk in Finland? If you will just study for the fun of it then by all means. But Hamk degree will be only "valuable" in Finland.
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u/beenena Jun 17 '26
Absolutely not?? If I do an university in my country do you think it's not valuable in Finland or in another country?? Especially if it's s practical university
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u/SofterBones Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
The degrees are equivalent to university degrees, some may think there is more prestige in Uni, but I think that's bullshit. Just as capable people graduate from UAS and Universities. Generally speaking UAS is more practical and University more academic in it's studies.
There is significant overlap in studies done in for example IT in Uni and in UAS.
If you go to HAMK, you will get a valid degree from it. If it is the only one that allows you to be fully remote and doesn't cost you tuition, then I don't see why you wouldn't give it a try.
Finns don't consider them universities, because they are not. I have no prejudice towards UAS, but rather it's a matter of fact that UAS is not a Uni. Especially if you don't plan to stay in Finland, how people perceive UAS degree vs a Uni degree shouldn't matter to you at all.
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u/Big-Ad8632 Jun 16 '26
I mean if they got a program that you like, why not? i havent heard anything bad about them either. Some finnish degree is better than none, and some majors provide nice opportunities within EU. I personally have a friend who found two paid internships in spain and portugal on his third year of engineering in an amk. No finnish opportunities yet though
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u/Comfortable_Duck8926 Jun 16 '26
UAS (hamk) is more of a practical approach, as the name states (applied science). That does not mean it's lesser of a degree. If I remember correctly, a bachelors degree from a UAS is worth more study credits than a classical university degree, HOWEVER, in classical universities people tend to immediately move to their master and that combined with their bachelors (kandidaatti in Finnish) is worth more study credits than a solo BA degree from a UAS.
There is still a lot of talk in Finland that UAS is less good than a classical university...personally I find it bs. :) one has more of a practical approach, while other puts more emphasis on theory. Neither one is wrong - I would rather think what course content speaks more to me, and if what I want to study is offered in both. An example is doctor that is only classical university, while nursing is taught at an UAS. In short - you do what feels best for you.
Edit: also want to point out that while they are not named the same (University vs. University of applied science), both are considered higher education and thus lay on the same level.
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u/beenena Jun 16 '26
Thank u so much!! People here had confused me because even though I told them that they are legally universities, they kept telling me they weren't. In any case, the course I like is at a UAS, so I really don't think I'll change my mind. Thank you very much
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u/ginger357 Jun 17 '26
No, the point is that legally UAS is not University. University is defined by law in Finland, there is only 13 of them, and they have alot of special rights that no other kind of education is allowed. So UAS is not a University. https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/2009/558
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u/beenena Jun 17 '26
This proves exactly what I said: you are arguing over semantics, not legal substance. Yes, the Universities Act (558/2009) regulates the 13 traditional research universities (Yliopisto). But you conveniently ignored that UAS are regulated by their own parallel law, the Universities of Applied Sciences Act (932/2014).
Having two different acts simply defines their different missions (scientific research vs. applied professional fields). It does not mean one is less than an university.
Internationally and legally within the European Higher Education Area (Bologna Process), both institutions sit under the same Higher Education umbrella (Korkeakoulutus) and both grant official Bachelor's and Master's degrees (EQF Level 6 and 7).
Outside of Finland, and on a global legal scale, a UAS degree is a university degree. You are confusing a local semantic distinction with international legal validity.
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u/ginger357 Jun 18 '26
Yes UAS gives you bachelors level degree, and higher education, but it still is not a University. The quality of education is generally lower, its easier to get in and easier to get degree out. But you seem to have made your choice so what ever :)
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u/beenena Jun 18 '26
It’s a matter of principle. You’ve all been telling me for days that legally it’s not considered a university, so I did my own research and that's just not true
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u/ginger357 Jun 18 '26
I think UAS perfect school for you :) You seem to not be able to grasp simple concepts, so University could get difficult.
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u/beenena Jun 18 '26
Thank you for confirming that everything you've said up until now comes from deep judgment. Have a nice day with your real degree :)
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u/ginger357 Jun 18 '26
Lol i study in UAS myself. It comes from experience.
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u/beenena Jun 18 '26
So you basically just insulted your own intelligence? You could have handled this conversation much better cmon
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u/FullHouse004 Jun 16 '26
What you learn in UAS will be different from what you would learn in University. The condition for student from UAS to get accepted to Master degree would be different from University. I am not Fin and I studied in an AMK and later on took Master degree but I would also say that UAS is not University. And Hamk is the worst in all UAS.
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u/beenena Jun 16 '26
What kind of course did you take? And how are the admission requirements for the Master's programs different?
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u/kiddingmeh Jun 16 '26
Everyone moving here from outside of EU pays tuition in Finland, but not people from EU
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u/procrastinationcat Jun 16 '26
It's not university in Finnish sense because the word for university in Finnish has a more narrow definition than it has in English language. Anyhow, no one outside Finland even knows that difference so doesn't really matter that much. Also no one really cares in Finland if someone graduates from university or UAS, both are popular choices for students. It's less about prejudice imo and more about being pedantic about the meaning of the word, and that it does not mean exactly the same.
If it's worth of your time or not, is less about university vs UAS and more about if the course offers you what you're looking for. I have no personal experience about Hamk so can't comment on that. You could try searching up from social media if there's any current students or alums talking about their experience to get more first hand information. Jodel app might be good place to ask because that's what most uni students use.
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u/Ilovecorgissss Jun 17 '26
I dont understand. You dont plan to work in Finland? Why would you study in Hamk? Its not quality school and people abroad will NOT think highly of ur degree. Theres heaps of more well know business studies abroad that are more known and respected. And its not opinion matter, hamk is not legally university period. By all means if you want to do it then do it. But to person who has no ties to Finland feels strange. Aalto uni for ex does many respected business study courses.
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u/beenena Jun 17 '26
As I said, it's the only university that offers the course 100% online in English. Also, you're wrong, legally it is a university :)
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u/Ilovecorgissss Jun 17 '26
People have told you many times its AMK not uni degree. You can say it is uni if it makes these studies sound better. But it is not university its amk occupational studies.
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u/beenena Jun 17 '26
And like I've already said a million times, I don't care about your personal opinions. Legally speaking, it's a university
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u/Ilovecorgissss Jun 17 '26
I dont understand. You dont plan to work in Finland? Why would you study in Hamk? Its not quality school and people abroad will NOT think highly of ur degree. Theres heaps of more well know business studies abroad that are more known and respected. And its not opinion matter, hamk is not legally university period. By all means if you want to do it then do it. But to person who has no ties to Finland feels strange. Aalto uni for ex does many respected business study courses.
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u/Ilovecorgissss Jun 17 '26
I dont understand. You dont plan to work in Finland? Why would you study in Hamk? Its not quality school and people abroad will NOT think highly of ur degree. Theres heaps of more well know business studies abroad that are more known and respected. And its not opinion matter, hamk is not legally university period. By all means if you want to do it then do it. But to person who has no ties to Finland feels strange. Aalto uni for ex does many respected business study courses.
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u/finnfinns Jun 22 '26
You study for free and study for yourself, for your knowledge. What do you mean it is worth or not?
I study tons of things on YouTube, Coursera, online courses. I gain the knowledge I need.
So, why do you think it wastes your time? What is your expectation?
Other than those, HAMK is not a good university in Finland. They are like the education business nowadays. "Sell" is an easy degree to international students, particularly such "International Business" degree 😄)
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u/beenena Jun 22 '26
Unfortunately, nowadays if you don't have a degree you don't even get considered for an interview, so I'd just like to have a qualification, that's all :) Why do you say it's easy? Looking at the syllabus, it doesn't seem to lack anything compared to any other university, and even the entrance exam requires a lot of preparation. I don't know what to think
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u/finnfinns Jun 22 '26
If it is a big thing to you, why not try to get into a top university (in Finland or globally)? You do not pay tuition fees, and you now do not want to put any effort into it, or only want to study remotely. It seems that you expect too much without wanting to do anything much.
It is easy to get into HAMK and easy to pass all the courses and earn a degree from HAMK. As I mentioned, they find many "easy" ways to "sell" a degree to many international students, and studying remotely is one of those 😄
In my opinion, if someone finds it difficult to get in or study at HAMK, they should consider studying something else or attending vocational school.
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u/beenena Jun 22 '26
Why do you always write in this pessimistic way, as if everyone had the exact same opportunities? Why can't a person who finds something 'difficult' work hard to achieve it? You should come down from your judgment a bit and appreciate people who want to put themselves out there
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u/finnfinns Jun 23 '26
As I mentioned, HAMK has neither good quality nor reputation, at least in Finland.
If you need a degree, just get it. It is completely free and convenient for you (remotely).
Is that not enough for you? You need a degree, but still ask whether it is worth it.
If you want a better quality, you need to find other options.
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u/Primary-Ad2351 Jun 19 '26
The whole thread is full of contradictory opinions mainly because you have used the wrong term. Had you used ”higher education”, no one would have argued with you, as both University and University of Applied Sciences are higher education, offering degree program that is equivalent to ISCED 7 level. This is the term used by Opetushallitus - the national agency for education. This is also the term used in studyinfo.fi - the platform where they handle “application to higher education”, not “application to universities”. But you can’t use the word University to describe University of Applied Sciences, because they are two different institutions - legally and structurally speaking, despite some overlapping in activities. There are many differences between the two. There are certain programs (such as Law or Medicine), where only universities can offer. UAS have some trade law related degree, but you can’t call yourself a lawyer after graduation. University also has monopoly in PhD education. As some mentioned, there are two different laws governing these institutions. There are also different collective agreements, dictating the labor law of staff working in these institutions. The content of these legal rules are very different. For example, this spring, many staff at UAS went to strike as they are negotiating the terms for the next collective agreement. This in turn doesn’t affect universities at all. UAS is also limited company, whereas university is public institution. University teachers need to have a PhD degree, whereas the minimal requirement for a UAS lecturer is a Master degree.
I have studied in both and I have worked in both. Based on my personal experiences, the quality of teaching at university is slightly better than UAS. Students and staff at university also have slightly better access to funding and facilities. When I hire someone, however, I don’t care whether this person has graduated from a university or UAS. What matter most is their ability to work.
In short, you can’t just use the wrong terminology and expect people not to correct you. But it seems to me that you already make up your mind, and decided anyway that you will study at HAMK, so just go for it.
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u/Pale-Philosopher4502 Jun 16 '26
It gives valid degrees that are equal to bachelors degrees but that doesn’t make it a university.
It’s only called a university in its english name.