Completing open higher education studies now easier for job seekers

  • News

Some job seekers may benefit from both legislative amendments concerning open higher education studies.

Legislative amendments concerning open higher education studies entered into force on 1 july 2026

The Unemployment Security Act was amended as part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s legislative drafting process. According to the amendment, a job seeker aged 25 or over can now complete open studies in higher education without restrictions and not lose their right to earnings-related unemployment allowance or general social security benefit, which are paid on the basis of unemployment. The amendment applies to open higher education studies provided by a university, university of applied sciences, adult education centre or summer university.

At the same time, open higher education studies at a university, university of applied sciences, adult education centre or summer university will no longer be considered on the basis of the provision concerning short-term studies, and these studies can no longer be completed as self-motivated studies subsidised with unemployment benefit under the Act on the Organisation of Employment Services or the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration. The aim of the legislative amendments is to make is easier to complete open higher education studies during unemployment and to reduce the administrative burden related to the right to benefits. The job seeker does not need to notify the above-mentioned open university studies to the employment authority. The employment authority or the KEHA Centre will also no longer need to carry out the clarifications related to the studies in question.

The legislative amendments entered into force on 1 July 2026 and apply to open higher education studies started at universities, universities of applied sciences, adult education centres and summer universities on or after 1 July 2026. It should be noted that open higher education provided by folk high schools is not covered by the amendments. As regards self-motivated studies subsidised with unemployment benefit, the legislative amendments will apply to studies starting on or after 1 July 2026.

Pilot project on study vouchers

The Ministry of Education and Culture has prepared legislative amendments concerning a pilot project on an education and training voucher for open higher education, the study voucher. A person entitled to the study voucher can use the voucher to complete a total of 30 credits in open higher education studies provided in Finnish or Swedish by universities and universities of applied sciences. These studies are free of charge to them. The person must register for the studies within two years of the date on which they became entitled to the study voucher. The acts concerning the pilot project on study vouchers will enter into force on 1 August 2026, and the pilot project will run until 31 July 2030.

Persons who have completed their first upper secondary qualification in Finland before the age of 29 between 1 December 2025 and 31 July 2028 are entitled to the study voucher. In addition, they must have participated in the joint application process for higher education institutions but have not been offered or have not accepted a student place in studies leading to a higher education degree. Unlike the amendment to the Unemployment Security Act, the study voucher does not require the recipient to be a job seeker. The aim of the pilot project is to support and speed up the transition of young people to higher education. The study voucher provides an opportunity for familiarisation with different fields of study free of charge, which may reduce the stress related to the transition to further studies and choosing a field of study.

The pilot project on study vouchers does not change the prerequisites for young people to earn an income. Young people will earn their living during their studies in the same way as they do now, for example, by working alongside their studies. The study voucher has been designed to also enable the person to complete studies part-time. Unemployed young people who are job seekers can complete open higher education studies without losing their right to the earnings-related unemployment allowance or the general social security benefit if the conditions for the right to the benefit are met.

The use of the voucher is implemented through the Opin.fi service.

Impacts of the amendments on job seekers aged under 25 who have not acquired an education

The legislative amendments do not affect the right to benefits of young people under the age of 25, except that the possibility to complete open higher education studies at a university, university of applied sciences, adult education centre or summer university as self-motivated studies under the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration was removed. This means, among other things, that the impact of open university studies on the right to benefits will remain mainly unchanged. To keep the right to a benefit paid on the basis of unemployment, a young person without a vocational education must still apply to study in accordance with the obligation to apply for education and training. As a rule, one of the requirements in young persons’ obligation to apply affecting the right to benefits is that the young person must apply for at least two student places in studies beginning in the autumn term. However, it should be noted that applying for one student place in higher education, which is a prerequisite for receiving the study voucher, does not meet the obligation to apply for education and training under the Unemployment Security Act.

Impacts on job seekers aged 25 and over

If the conditions of both legislative amendments are met, the job seeker may benefit from both of them. In practice, this may apply for example to a person who has turned 25, is an unemployed job seeker and also meets the conditions for receiving a study voucher. This means that the person can complete open higher education studies free of charge without the studies affecting their right to the benefits.

However, if the person is registered as a job seeker, they must still, despite their open higher education studies, apply for work as agreed in the plan, be prepared to accept full-time work and participate in employment-promoting services if such services are offered to them.

More information