HAMK’s joint application closed – Nursing degree programme most popular
The joint application period, which was mainly aimed at foreign applicants or foreign-language speakers living in Finland, attracted more than 7700 applicants. The new English-language Nursing degree programme was the most attractive of HAMK’s offerings.
The Finnish national joint application closed on Wednesday 17.1.2024. 13 Bachelor’s degree programmes and one Master’s degree programme were open for applications at HAMK. A total of 7751 applicants from all over the world applied. The number of applicants is slightly lower than last year (8160), which is estimated to be due to the introduction of the language certificate requirement in this year’s joint application.
Four of the degree programmes are completely new and start on 2024 intake: Nursing in Hämeenlinna, Professional Horticulture in Lepaa, and Sustainable Urban Design and Information and Communication Technology with a focus on robotics in Riihimäki. The most popular degree programme among all applicants was Nursing, which attracted more than 2200 applications in total. The second most popular degree programme, Computer Applications, received almost 1500 applications. The third most popular degree programme was International Business (full-time) with nearly a thousand applications.
“It is delightful that Finnish nursing education is appreciated. We desperately need more professionals in the field in Finland and Kanta-Häme. Nursing is meaningful and one of the most universal professions, and this is also reflected in the number of applicants,” says Merja Salminen, Dean of the Unit of Social and Health Services.
Other new degree programmes received applications as follows: Information and Communication Technology, Robotics 512 applications, Professional Horticulture 231 applications and Sustainable Urban Design 177 applications. One factor that might also contribute to the popularity of the Nursing degree programme in the joint application is that it is the only English degree programme not available in HAMK’s direct application.
This year, HAMK received applications from more than 110 countries in joint application. Almost all applicants were from outside Finland.
Attracting international talent to Finland is a national objective, and its realization has been reflected in the increasing trend in the number of applicants to higher education institutions for several years now. At HAMK too, growing the international higher education community is a strategic goal, with the aim of significantly increasing the number of international students by 2030. In recent years, HAMK has increased the number of English-language programmes on offer.
“We can be satisfied with the result of the application. The new language requirements certainly reduced the number of applicants, but adequate language skills are a key factor in making studies possible. The number of applicants for new degree programmes is typically lower at the beginning, but the popularity of nursing degree programme in particular is a welcome development. We hope that this will help us address the shortage of nurses,” says Vice Rector Heidi Ahokallio-Leppälä.
HAMK’s other application period, direct application, has been brought to a halt for bachelor’s degree programmes due to massive amount of applications. The exception is Smart and Sustainable Design which still has direct admission open. The direct application for bachelor’s degrees might re-open for some of the programmes for a short period of time during March 2024 if it seems that there are study places left. Follow our website for further information. The application review and admission process of the applicants is currently ongoing. For master’s degree the direct application period is 1 February – 31 March.
Student selection process
HAMK’s English-taught bachelor’s degree programmes utilize the national online International UAS Exam as a student selection method in the joint application process. In the direct application process, students are primarily selected based on their previous school performance or SAT scores. The Smart and Sustainable Design programme, however, uses HAMK’s own online examination for both joint and direct applications. For the master’s degree programme Management in Sustainable Business, student selection will be made based on a thesis plan in both joint and direct admissions.
The International UAS Exam is entirely online, and it will take place on 21 March 2024 from 12:00 o’clock noon onwards Finnish time. For Smart and Sustainable Design an online selection test for joint application will be organized by HAMK from 6 to 7 March 2024. All applicants will be informed of the results by 31 May 2024 at the latest.