Today I would like to tell about the concept of Open University at Aalto University.

Open University gives an opportunity to non-students to attend interesting courses, learn something new, and gain valuable skills. Courses are open to everyone regardless of their background or age, and you can participate in online courses even if you are abroad and not in Finland.

What are the possible benefits of studying at Open University:

• You can learn more about studying at Aalto University and different fields of study before making a final decision on what study program to apply to.
• If you are not interested in a degree, you can always update your knowledge and enhance your professional and general skills needed at your workplace.
• If you are a researcher you know that nowadays science evolves fast so, you should always be aware of current phenomena, new discoveries, experiments, and research methods. Open University gives you a great opportunity to learn about research and study approaches at Aalto University.
• If you already know what degree you want to apply to, you can get a certain head-start on your studies even before you apply to Aalto. You can take courses at Open University that may be counted toward a university degree later when you start your studies.
• You can expand your degree with elective studies from Aalto’s Open University. For example, if you study somewhere else in Finland, you can take open courses at Aalto that are not taught at your university and then include them in your minor or elective studies.

When I was doing my bachelor’s also here in Finland, I took Principles of Economics and Finnish language courses at Aalto´s Open Universities. After completing these courses I got familiar with Aalto campus and systems and made it my goal to get here for a master’s degree. Now I am a proud graduate of Aalto University!

Open University at Aalto University offers plenty of courses in Business, Technology, Languages and Art and Design, and different courses are available throughout the year. Currently, the schedule for all the autumn courses is published so, check them out and apply for those that interest you: https://www.aalto.fi/en/open-university-course-list#/

At the end of the autumn semester, a list of courses for the spring semester will be published and then in the spring – courses for summer. Yes, you really can study all year round. Studying during the summer can also save you some time and speed up our studies. Cool, right?

Few things to keep in mind. Some courses require prior knowledge of the topic so, make sure you check the possible prerequisites for the selected course, they are always mentioned in the course description. Studying at the Open University is not considered as full-time studies, so open university students are not eligible for the students benefits. And also, studying solely at the Open University does not give permission for a student visa.

Daria Babanina
Master’s student of Real Estate Economics at Engineering School