In its mid-term policy review session between 22 and 23 April 2025, the Finnish Government decided to give open universities the authority to grant degrees. This would be a huge revolution in Finnish higher education and the end of free education as it currently is. Finland’s 13 university student unions oppose the proposal and demand that the university community stand up against the reform.

Making it possible to complete a degree at an open university would in practice mean paid degree education. Free education is one of the pillars of Finnish society, and undermining it would increase social inequality. This must not be allowed on the pretext of any economic situation.

Open university cannot be turned into a degree shop. The proposal invalidates the large amount of work that has been done to promote student admissions in higher education institutions in recent years. The role of the Open University as an institute that complements degree education and acts as an alternative admission channel must be kept unchanged, i.e. the Open University must not be granted the right to award degrees.

The introduction of a fee-based degree would lead to two levels of degrees that would be valued in different ways. This would jeopardise the equality of education and the provision of high-quality teaching at our universities. At the same time, universities would be forced to develop the teaching offered by the Open University, and with weakening resources, this would come out of the studies offered by the university.

The reform would also bring wicked questions about the status of Open University students. Examples of problems would include student representation in university decision-making, the right to students’ social benefits, and whether the same assessment criteria would be applied to open university students as to those granted the right to study through the joint application process. Student unions find that a situation in which students only have responsibilities and few rights is unsustainable.

Student unions are well aware of the tight financial situation of universities and at the same time the Government is also cutting their basic funding. Free education is a fundamental value that we cannot afford to give up under this pressure to save money. The university community must stand united for free degree education now and in the future.