Tuition fee refund policies

The following tuition fee refund policy is applicable to students of our 9 international master’s degree programmes from intake 2025 and onwards:

The tuition fee can be refunded only in the following situations:

Residence permit

• If the students receives a Negative decision on the residence permit application. In this case the negative decision from the Finnish Immigration Services must be submitted to admission(at)abo.fi.

Deferral of studies

• If the student has already paid the tuition fee and must defer their studies due to e.g. not being able to get the residence permit on time to start the studies (according to the programme’s recommendations for starting the studies), the tuition fee payment can either be transferred to the following academic year or refunded.

Non-attendance

• If the student has already paid the tuition fee and registers as non-attending by the enrolment deadline, the fee can be refunded.

Conditionally accepted student

• If a conditionally accepted student does not meet the conditions by the given deadline.

Renouncement of study right

• If the student renounces their study right bindingly during the enrolment period.

Force majeure events

• If the degree programme is not offered, or a force majeure event occurs.

Please note:

• A precondition for all refunds of tuition fees is that no studies have been completed within the same semester the refund is applied for.
• Changes in the fee status made in the middle of term do not result in the reimbursement of the tuition fee for that term. The revised status will be effective, as a rule, from the beginning of the following term.
• You can contact admission(at)abo.fi to request a refund (where applicable) and get the relevant information on how to proceed with your request for refund.
  
  You must apply for refund by the 30th of September (autumn semester) or the 31st January (spring semester).
• Tuition fees will be returned only upon application.

The following tuition fee refund policy is applicable to students of our 9 international master’s degree programmes up until and including intake 2024:

N.B.! The tuition fee refund policy below has been updated from December 1st 2024 due to Government changes to legislation. According to the new legislation, students who have come to Finland with a residence permit for studies, and who change their residence permit to a work-based residence permit, will no longer be exempted from paying tuition fees. Also, family members of persons who have a continuous residence permit (A), but who originally came to Finland with a study-based residence permit, will no longer be exempted.

(Students who have previously been exempted from paying tuition fees due to a change of residence permit basis, will continue to be exempted from paying tuition fees for as long as the residence permit is valid. From 1 December 2024 and onwards, students will no longer be able to apply for being exempted from paying tuition fees, even if the residence permit changes to a work-based residence permit.)

The tuition fee can be refunded fully or partially in the following situations:

Residence permit

• A Negative decision on the residence permit application. In this case the negative decision from the Finnish Immigration Services is required to be submitted to the Admissions Services admission(at)abo.fi.

Non-attendance
If the student has already paid the tuition fee and registers as non-attending by the registration deadline, the fee can be returned. The student must apply for refund by the 30th of September (autumn semester) or the 31st January (spring semester).

Graduation

If the student graduates by January 31^st, they are allowed to graduate without payment of the tuition fee for the spring semester.
If the student graduates by September 30^th, they are allowed to graduate without payment of the tuition fee for the autumn semester.
In these cases, please contact admission(at)abo.fi.

Please note that if the student graduates in the middle of the autumn term (after September 30th), and has paid the tuition fee for the whole academic year, Åbo Akademi University will only return payments made for the spring term. (Refunds are done only per term.)

Conditionally accepted student
A conditionally accepted student does not meet the conditions by the given deadline.

Renouncement of study right
Student renounces their study right with a written form. If the student renounces their study right for example on the 1st of October, the payment will be returned from the 1st of October onwards. Scholarship that has been granted as a tuition fee waiver only, will not be collected back from the student. Tuition fees will be returned only upon application.

Force majeure events
The degree programme is not offered, or a force majeure event occurs.

Please note:

• A precondition for all refunds of tuition fees is that no studies have been completed within the same semester the refund is applied for.
• Changes in the fee status made in the middle of term do not result in the reimbursement of the tuition fee for that term. The revised status will be effective, as a rule, from the beginning of the following term.
• You can contact admission(at)abo.fi to request a refund (where applicable) and get the relevant information on how to proceed with your request for refund.
  
  You must apply for refund by the 30th of September (autumn semester) or the 31st January (spring semester).
• Tuition fees will be returned only upon application.

Tuition fees will be returned only upon application, email your application to admission(at)abo.fi.