Finland needs more highly educated experts to reform society and business life. We also need groundbreaking research, which forms the basis for new and radical innovations. Universities play a key role in creating the preconditions for future sustainable growth, and need adequate resources to maintain the high quality of education and research.
The Finnish Government will meet in April for government budget negotiations to outline the General Government Fiscal Plan for 2026-2029. The challenges facing public finances and finding new sustainable ways to boost economic growth frame the task.
The Council of Rectors’ of Finnish Universities UNIFI emphasises the positive impacts of high-level expertise and innovative research on growth of labour productivity and the economy in the long term.
The educational attainment of younger adults between 25 and 24 must be raised with adequate resources. Finland also needs more international students, and their integration into the labour market must be supported. Funding for the R&D activities of universities must be increased to strengthen the prerequisites for internationally high-quality, pioneering research conducted at universities.
– We now need bold, research-based long-term decisions that accelerate productivity, the economy and the sustainable renewal of society. The expertise and new knowledge created at universities are the foundation for Finland’s future success and well-being, says Ilkka Niemelä, Chair of Unifi.
Raising the educational attainment through parliamentary cooperation
The expert shortage is a significant obstacle to Finland’s productivity and economic growth as well as the achievement of RDI objectives and investments.
In the 21st century, the share of young people with a higher education degree has fallen in Finland significantly behind the OECD average, which is largely due to the decrease in basic funding for higher education institutions. Taking into account changes in the value of money, university funding relative to the number of master’s degrees awarded has fallen by more than 30% since 2010. Finland must become a European leader in the share of young people with a higher education degree by 2035 and ensure that funding relative to the number of students is at the Nordic level. A far-reaching measure to boost growth is to launch parliamentary work that extends beyond parliamentary terms to raise the educational attainment with adequate resources.
In addition to raising the level of education, employment-oriented, education-based immigration is a key means of responding to the expert shortage. It is now important to increase the number of international students and make it easy and smooth for them to stay and find work in Finland.
Decisions to increase funding for universities’ R&D activities are acutely needed
So far, additional R&D funding has mainly been allocated through Business Finland and the Research Council of Finland. While the funding is justified, direct allocations to universities in accordance with the policies of the Parliamentary RDI Working Group and the Government Programme are now also needed so that the potential of the RDI system can be fully utilised and the objectives set for R&D activities on supporting sustainable economic growth and economic reform can be achieved.Universities have identified targets for the additional R&D funding, including RDI periods among university research staff aimed at business cooperation, increasing the number of research projects that strengthen cooperation between high-quality universities and companies, and strengthening research infrastructures.
Decisions are also needed to increase the amount of doctoral education and its funding in the long term.
Read more about the universities key messages here.
Further information:
Chair of Unifi, President Ilkka Niemelä, p. 050 452 4690 (assistant Hely Kilpeläinen)
Executive Director of Unifi Heikki Holopainen, 0400 639331