1. Studyinfo.fi – application system to education in Finland
Finnish National Board of Education
Marcus Caselius
IAAO

2. Structure of the presentation
Studyinfo – General facts
Applications to higher education institutions (HEIs)
Design, technology, development model
Koulutussektoreiden haku- ja valintauudistukset

3. Studyinfo – General facts
Alatunnisteteksti

4. Studyinfo -service – General facts
Online since 2014 – replaced 7 old online services
Same system for secondary, higher (HEIs) and adult education
Data storage for different study options
Application portal
Application management
Student admission system
Register of verified competence (degrees, study points etc.)
Koski-project: degrees from elementary schools to universities
Alatunnisteteksti

5. Timeline 1.1.2015 – 31.3.2016 Total 6,19 million visits
Almost 25 million unique page openings
The record day : visits/day,
Unique page opening record : /day
Average visits in a month
Mobile usage:
Smartphone 25,3 % and tablet 9,9 %
Average visit 8 min
Straight 39 %, through search engine 35 %,
Other webpages 26 %

6. In March 2016
Total visitors, Over 3,5 million unique page openings
Mobile usage:
Smartphone usage: 24,1 % (2015: 18,8 %)
Tablet 9,3 % (2015: 10,3 %)
Average visit
10 min 47 sec
Record of the March:
visits/day
unique page openings
The last day of our joint application period

7. Benefits Vast amount of information in one website
for learners and student councellors
data of all education is found in the same portal
comparability of the data of all education levels improved
information is real-time
availability 24/7
accessibility for applicants with special needs
for education providers
open (code) source and open interfaces helps larger utilization
free services
data protection
for national administration
no need to acquire whole data systems -> through competitive bidding we purchase resources
fixing / changing functionalities possible to do in smaller entities
 saving costs
Vast amount of information in one website
Previously four different services, now combined into one
Emphasis on information retrieval for specific target groups
The same system for secondary, higher and adult education
Heterogeneous target group
How to find relevant information if you are not sure what you are looking for and where to apply?
The services are still under construction which causes some challenges
Studyinfo is built gradually
Causes usability problems
Alatunnisteteksti

8. Applications to higher education institutions (HEIs)
Koulutussektoreiden haku- ja valintauudistukset

9. Joint and separate application
Applying to higher education study programmes takes place either in joint application or separate application.
More often applying for Bachelor’s degree is done through joint application and applying for Master’s is done through separate application.
2016 in joint application there was also master’s degree programmes for the first time
Joint application
Organized in Opintopolku
2 times a year: spring and autumn
max 6 study programmes in order of preference with one application.
Supplementary application round after the joint applications
applicants in 2015, applicants in 2016 so far
Separate application
Most of them done in Studyinfo or universityadmission.fi and some of them in HEI:s own systems.
All year round: The application periods and application method vary
There are no limitations to the amount of study programmes
applicants in 2015 (via universityadmission.fi: 7000)
applicants in 2016 so far (via universityadmission.fi: 6300)
universityadmissions.fi
consortium
funded by member universities
services supporting the checking of credentials
applications for English language master programs in its member universities
HEIs’ own systems & services
Alatunnisteteksti

10. What is new? Quota for first-time applicants
HEIs are obliged to reserve places for the first-timers.
From 2016 onwards the higher education institutions have to reserve some of the study places for those applicants who do not hold a higher education qualification or a higher education study place (autumn 2014) in Finland.
The size of the quota for first-time applicants varies depending on the study option. The quota is a way to ensure that as many applicants as possible will get a study place.
Degree programmes provided in English do not have to use quotas for first-time applicants.
In 2016 spring joint application
study places and 45% of those (10170) are reserved for the first- timers.
80 % ( ) of all applicants ( ) were first-time applicants.
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11. What is new? The application fee
Applicants to Finnish higher education institutions (polytechnics/Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) and universities) who are applying based on a qualification awarded outside the EU/EEA -area or Switzerland will be required to pay an application fee of 100 € when applying for studies beginning in autumn 2016.
The application fee concerns applicants to Bachelor’s and Master’s level studies.
Ca applicants (4448 in joint application) have paid the fee so far.
FNBE is collecting these payments via studyinfo-service.
Future of these fees is still under debate. The conclusion will be public later this year.
Alatunnisteteksti

12. What is new in 2017 – Tuition fees
Non-EU/EEA tuition fees and scholarship options coming up in (mandatory). They can collect fees already in 2016.
The Finnish government has decided to introduce tuition fees for non- EU/EEA degree students who start their studies in English-taught Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in August 2017 or after that.
The new tuition fee legislation also requires the Finnish higher education institutions to introduce scholarship options to support non-EU/EEA students admitted in the fee-charging degree courses.
Each university/UAS in Finland will independently define their own fee structure and the details of their related scholarship programmes.
The minimum annual tuition fee as set in the legislation is 1500€.
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13. What next in opintopolku?
Application form editor is being developed as we speak
Going online for the first time summer 2016
Completed: December 2016
Search engine and user interface will be renovated
Starting summer 2016
Koski-project: degrees etc. from elementary schools to universities
Applicant could check all of his information online
Alatunnisteteksti

14. Design, technology, development model
Alatunnisteteksti

15. Development model
FNBE is small organization and technical staff is scarce
We have aquired through competitive bidding software developers from different companies.
Developers (now ca. 30) sit at the same facilities as the product owners
Agile methods: Previously SCRUM, now KANBAN.

16. Design principles
Everything must be opensource. Including software products and tools that we use and the code that we produce
Aim was to unify processes as much as possible
SOA – Service Oriented Architecture
- Stateless multipurpose services
- Data flows only through APIs
Alatunnisteteksti

17. Technology Programming: Java, Scala, Clojure, JavaScript
Databases: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, SOLR
User Interfaces: Single Page Apps mostly by using AngularJS
APIs: REST/JSON
No orchestration through ESB
Alatunnisteteksti

18. Thank you.
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