Funding the studies
The Master's Degree Programme in Environmental Sciences (University of Turku) does not charge tuition fees. To be registered as a student at the university the students must join the Student Union, for which the membership fee is around 90 €/year. For this price the students also get several benefits, such as student discounts in long distance public transportation and inexpensive health care at the Finnish Student Health Care Services (YTHS).
The university itself, however, cannot offer any financial assistance in form of scholarships, grants or student-specific job opportunities, so the students must be able to support themselves while living in Finland. To ensure adequate funding, according to the residence permit regulations by the Finnish immigration service, a deposit of 6.000 € (2011) is required at the beginning of each academic year. Living costs in Finland are calculated to be at least 500 €. A survey was made to attending international students of the Faculty about the true costs of living in Turku in October-November 2011. The results indicate that the minimum costs for a student would be around 500 € but most students spend more. Information about the costs is also available here.