Aalto University continues to attract more students from across the globe

The application period for Aalto’s Master’s programmes ended on 11 January 2019 and application for Bachelor’s programmes in English ended on 23 January 2019.  Combined a total of 6 603 applications were submitted to 96 study options, an increase of over 26% from the previous year.

Says Vice President of Education Petri Suomala, 'As we see with our increase in international rankings in Times Higher Education, there is a growing awareness of Aalto as a top university and attractive destination. These application numbers echo that interest and offer a healthy indicator to our competitiveness.'

A total of 3 779 applications to Master’s programmes

For the Master’s programmes a total of 3 779 applications were received with 2108 interested applications to the field of science and technology, 1 173 to art and design and 498 to business and economics.  The study options with the highest number of applicants were Machine learning, Data Mining and Artificial Intelligence, Architecture, and Collaborative and Industrial Design. 

Excluding Finland, application numbers were highest from China, India and Pakistan. The percentage of non-EU / EEA applicants was 49% whereas the percentage of Finnish applicants was 32%. These numbers do not include the incoming class of incumbent students pursuing their study right from their undergraduate degrees.

2 824 applications to Bachelor’s programmes in English

This year Aalto offered 5 new Bachelor-level study options in English in all three fields. They all saw massive interest with Economics garnering 481 applications, Design 227, Chemical Engineering 165, Computational Engineering 307, and Quantum Technology 184.  

These new study options join the Bachelor’s programme in International Business and 2 study options in Bachelor’s programme in Science and Technology, Data Science and Digital Systems and Design. The International Business programme in Mikkeli had 756 interested applicants, 435 applied for Data Science and 269 for Digital Systems and Design. 45% percent of applicants were citizens of countries outside the EU and EEA. 45% percent of the applicants were Finnish nationals.

Adds Suomala, 'We want to continue to ensure that we offer tremendous opportunity to be part of our community, to join one of the best learning cultures in the world.'

The application rounds were for the bachelor’s programmes taught in English as well as for two-year master’s programmes based on a completed bachelor’s degree or equivalent studies. The students admitted to bachelor’s programmes also receive a direct study right for a master’s degree. The application period for Finnish- and Swedish-language bachelor’s programmes is from 20 March to 3 April 2019.

The results for the master’s admissions will be published on 27 March 2019 at the earliest. Results for the English-language bachelor’s programmes on 28 June 2019, except for Bachelor’s programme in Design for which the results will be published on 24 May at the latest.