Want cheap, good education abroad? Finland welcomes you

If you’re looking to study abroad in a good, affordable university but don’t want to deal with the Trump administration and its increasingly unfriendly policies towards foreigners, then head to Finland.

The Scandinavian country is planning to welcome 150,000 international students by 2020 in what seems to be the opposite of what traditional study destinations like the US and UK are doing with their protectionist policies. International students can enrol in various English-medium courses offered in the country’s 39 highly-esteemed universities, such as information and communication technology (ICT), green technology, forestry, medicine, and education.

“The remarkably lower cost of living in Finland compared to the United Kingdom and United States and that our universities topped global rankings make Finnish institutions an attractive alternative for international students,” Finnish Ambassador to Malaysia Petri Puhakka told state wire Bernama (via NST Online) at the launch of Edunation Finland in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

The University of Helsinki is the oldest and largest institution of academic education in Finland. Source: Shutterstock

Edunation is a Finnish startup in partnership with Finland’s embassy in Malaysia to make it easier to access Finland’s “top-notch” universities and student life. It promises an “easy and fast” application process, where you can get your acceptance in as short as two weeks, according to its website.

“Edunation is transforming the application process into a modern and internationally unique system which makes applying to study in Finland easier than ever before,” Edunation’s Ella Gustafsson said.

Finland is also looking into collaboration with local universities such as Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The two countries have established a bilateral relationship since 1972, while student exchange programmes between them have been conducted from as far back as 30 years ago.

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