Healthcare Fee for University Students in Finland to Increase in 2023

Students in Finland will pay €73.60 to use the healthcare services in the country, or €36.80 per term in 2023, the Finish government has announced.

This, according to a media release posted on the government’s website, will increase by €2 compared to 2022 to improve healthcare services' availability. The government announced changes on student healthcare fees on November 12, 2022, Erudera.com reports.

“Compared to 2022, the fee will increase by EUR 2 to improve the availability of services. The late payment fee and the charge for an unattended appointment will remain unchanged,” the press release reads.

Next year, the government said that students who receive healthcare services but pay after the due date will be charged €5, whereas those who don’t attend the appointment will be charged €40.

Students coming from other EU or EEA countries, Switzerland or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will not be affected by the decision as the fee for using healthcare services will not change for them. The latter will continue to use the Finnish Student Health Service as before.

In the future, according to the government, the amount of money for student healthcare services will be charged by the state responsible for students’ medical care.

Other than having a quality educational system, Finland also has a great healthcare system and ranks among the happiest countries in the world. This year, the number of international students choosing the country as their study destination has also increased. The Finnish Immigration Service said that Finnish higher education institutions have welcome a record number of students from abroad in 2022, with 7,060 applicants from outside the EU receiving their residence permits between January and October this year.

“The number of residence permits granted this year already surpassed the record-breaking year of 2016 when 6,348 first-time residence permits were granted to students,” Deputy Director-General of the Finnish Immigration Service, Elina Immonen, said.

Students from EU/EEA countries can study in Finland for free, whereas those from third countries must pay fees. According to data by Erudera, the fees that international students should pay to study in Finland depend on the university and study program but usually range between €4,000 ($4,849) and €18,000 ($21,821).

Statista, a data provider, indicated that in 2021, the total number of university students in Finland was 159,545, an increase from the previous year when there were 156,577 but a decline when compared to a longer period, specifically in 2006 when universities in the country hosted 177,000 students.