1. Update your study plan (HOPS) on Sisu and apply for any approvals that may be missing.
   • If any part(s) of your study plan require separate approval, deviate from previous approval, are against the rules or have some other status preventing graduation, then your graduation cannot be processed.
   • Reserve at least three (3) weeks for this processing, so that the problems can be cleared up in time. If your study plan is not in order by graduation day, your graduation will be rescheduled for the next available graduation date. Below under the heading Graduation timetables the table also includes the deadline for updating your study plan and applying for missing approvals. If you need help in updating your study plan, you can use Sisu guidance for students whose timetable is published further down on this page.
2. Check that the studies in your study plan show a completion mark (a garland icon) in Sisu. Your thesis, maturity essay, thesis seminar and credit transfers (e.g. exchange studies) are exceptions in that they must be completed by graduation day, but they are not registered yet in Sisu. Submit your thesis as instructed on the Thesis page of your programme pages.
   • Apply for any missing credit transfers by creating a study draft for exchange studies, for example. Information about credit transfers here and instructions for applying for credit transfer here.
   • If Sisu is not showing any completed thesis and/or maturity essay and/or thesis seminar for you, check that your study plan has the correct course codes for them.  You can find the up-to-date codes on your programme’s curriculum page.
   • If the completion ‘garland’ mark is missing from studies other than your thesis, thesis seminar, maturity essay or credit transfers, wait for them to show up in your study plan before moving on to the next stage.
3. Apply for graduation in Sisu, the instructions are here.
   • Indicate in your bachelor’s graduation application form the master’s programme where you will continue your studies. More information further down on this page.
   • Please note that you can apply for only tuition fee waiver in the graduation application and other scholarships are assigned elsewhere. The tuition fee waiver decision is provided in the graduation email.
   • Do not edit your study plan after submitting your application.
     • If you notice an error before graduation day, cancel your graduation application, make the correction and apply for graduation again
     • If you notice an error after graduation day, contact [email protected] and await instructions before editing your study plan.
4. Respond to the national Finnish Bachelor’s Graduate Survey.
   • By responding, you give use important information about your study experiences and help us to develop both the programme and student services.
   • Responding to the survey also has a direct impact on the university’s funding.
   • More information here.
5. Follow your Aalto email as we will use it to contact you if we need extra information.
   • It will take several weeks after graduation for your degree and degree certificate to be prepared. For details, read the section Graduation timetables below.
6. A right to study in the master’s programme will be entered for you when your degree is registered. You can make a study plan for your master’s studies and being completing studies before the right to study in the programme is entered for you.
7. You can receive your degree certificate at the graduation ceremony or at the Learning Services HelpDesk.
   • If you need a degree certificate earlier, you may receive a provisional one by contacting [email protected]. Note: Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, requires no separate graduation certificate, as they receive the information from the university directly.

• The date entered on the degree certificate is the official date of graduation and the last possible date for submitting a graduation request.
  • You must submit your thesis and maturity essay for examination no later than your graduation date. More information on your programme pages During your studies > Thesis.
  • Missing credit transfers for exchange studies, for example, must be sent for processing no later than the graduation date. Information about credit transfers here and instructions for applying for credit transfer here. NB! Credits from internship are not regarded as credit transfer, they are normal course credits!
  • All other completed studies for inclusion in the degree must be approved and the approvals must be visible in the study plan before the request for graduation is submitted.
• After the graduation date, theses and maturity essays are evaluated and entered. Any remaining credit transfers are also processed.
  • You need not do anything about this as the people doing the processing will just follow their given timetables.
• After the graduation date, we will register your degree in Sisu based on your study plan.
  • If there are errors or if completed studies are missing from your study plan, we will contact you after the graduation date. Remember therefore to read your Aalto email regularly!
  • All degrees of students who graduate on the same day will be registered according to the same timetable. That is why graduation requests in Sisu take about three weeks to process after the graduation date. Especially with July and December graduation dates, processing graduation applications takes longer due to the volume of applications.
• When your degree is registered, we will finalise your degree certificate.
  • Degree certificates are given at the same time to all who graduated on the same date.

2024

* No theses or maturity essays may be submitted for examination in June. If you are graduating in June, submit your thesis and maturity essay according to the May timetable.

2025

* No theses or maturity essays may be submitted for examination in June. If you are graduating in June, submit your thesis and maturity essay according to the May timetable.

Degree certificates are given at either the bachelors graduation ceremony or can be picked up from the Learning Services HelpDesk by booking an appointment (more information on the page Contact). The HelpDesk needs to inspect your ID before the certificate can be given.

If you are graduating as a bachelor’s degree student, the place, time and other details about collecting your degree certificate will be sent to you by email if you are unable to attend the graduation ceremony.

What should I do if I can’t come to get my degree certificate?

1. You can authorise someone to pick up your certificate at the HelpDesk by giving that person a letter of attorney or other written authorisation. No certificate can be given out unless the receiving party has a proof of identity and the letter of attorney or the written authorisation. Remember to book an appointment for picking up the diploma.
2. You can authorise us to send the certificate to you by mail by sending the letter of attorney or authorisation to School of Business Learning Services by email to [email protected]. Certificates are sent only outside of Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen area. The certificate will be sent to use by certified mail and given only to the individual indicated. The Power of attorney for receipt of degree certificate (Authorization to send degree certificate) can be found here.

The degree certificate (diploma) consists of the certificate of completion of a degree, a transcript of records of the degree studies and the grades received, and a Diploma Supplement, which has explanatory information about the degree.

• The transcript of records, showing the studies in the degree, is based on your study plan.

The degree certificate and its translation are made in duplicate: one copy for you and one for the Aalto University archives. You cannot receive a new copy of the certificate should the original be lost or destroyed; however, you may obtain a certified copy of that in the archives. More information can be found here.

Language of the degree certificate

Graduates from the Finnish-medium Bachelor's Programme in Business (kauppatieteen kandidaattiohjelma) receive a Finnish degree certificate and an English translation.

Graduates of the English-medium programme Bachelor’s Programme in International Business and Bachelor’s Programme in Economics receive an English and Finnish degree certificate. However, graduates of either English programme who wrote their thesis in Finnish will receive a Finnish degree certificate and an English translation.

Degree certificate grades

The degree certificate shows the following:

• The grades of the study units (courses) in the degree.
• The grades of the study modules, calculated as the average grade of the study units (weighted according to the number of credits) in the module. This grade is calculated only if at least half of the study units were graded on a scale of 0 to 5.
• The grade of the degree, calculated as the credit-weighted average of all the study units in the degree that were graded on a scale of 0 to 5.

This calculation includes the thesis, counting it as a study unit. The averages are given at a precision of two decimal places (one-hundredth part).

A Bachelor of Science (Economics and Business Administration) degree is marked as completed with honours if the grade is at least 4.50.

Correcting errors on a certificate

If you notice an error on your certificate, you will receive a corrected one. You must return your defective certificate to Aalto University when you retrieve the corrected one. If your certificate requires a correction, please contact [email protected]. 

The graduation ceremony for students graduating with a Bachelor's degree is held four times a year. From the beginning of 2024, Bachelor's degrees will be celebrated at the same event as master's and doctorate degrees, excluding September, when Bachelor's degrees will have their own graduation ceremony.

The graduation ceremonies are held at the School of Business on dates of certificate award ceremony usually at 3.15 PM or sometimes 4.15 PM. The graduating students have to be present about half an hour earlier to learn how the ceremony is going to progress and get instructions. The graduating students get an email beforehand with the exact times and information about how many guests they can bring. Normally the number of guests allowed is 0-2. The programme of the ceremony is usually the following:

• Choir (KYL/KYN)
• Dean’s speech
• Diplomas
• Graduate's speech
• Aalto University Business Students - KY
• The Finnish Association of Business School Graduates, Helsinki Section (HEKO)
• Sparkling wine and cake

The ceremony lasts about an hour depending on the programme. In order to attend the graduation ceremony, you need to RSVP with a separate invitation, which will be sent to you via email upon graduating. There is no specific dress code, but usually the graduates are wearing a "smart casual".

Graduation Party

In addition to the School of Business graduation ceremony, an outdoor event “Graduation Party” will be organized on Wednesday 12 June 2024 at 17 for all bachelors, masters and licentiates who have graduated between 1 May 2023 and 30 April 2024 from Aalto University. 
 
Invitations to the event with registration link will be sent in April and May. So, remember to update your email address you’ll be using after the graduation in Sisu! 

Read more about the Party here.

You should start to plan for your master’s studies when you are in the final stages of your bachelor’s degree. To do so, add your preferred master’s programme to your study plan. Add the programme to the primary study plan for your bachelor’s degree according to these instructions. You may plan your master’s programme studies and register for courses even before your right to study in the master’s programme has been confirmed.

Please note that in some cases, pursuing studies in a master’s programme may require a confirmed right to study in the programme.

• If you wish to complete master’s-level courses when you still have some bachelor's degree studies to do, you should read the course descriptions to check whether the courses require a right to study in a particular master’s programme or give priority to students of certain programmes.
• As your right to study towards a master’s programme will be confirmed only after you have completed your bachelor’s degree, you cannot choose courses that require you to have a right to study in a certain master’s programme.
• When you register for courses, you will be regarded as a bachelor’s degree student until your degree completion has been recorded in Sisu even if you had completed all the bachelor’s degree studies including the thesis.