Requests for graduation will be submitted by filling out a graduation request through your study plan on Sisu. Your graduation request on Sisu should be based on your up-to-date primary study plan. Please note that you must be enrolled as an attending student on your graduation day.  

When applying for graduation, the other studies included in the degree must be completed and registered, and the thesis must be returned in its final form to MyStudies for grading. If there is no grade for the thesis at the time of submission of the graduation request, it will be entered in the register about a month after the Programme committee has made a decision on it.

Creating a study plan on Sisu is compulsory because Sisu generates the degree certificate based on both it and the graduation request.

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, are against the rules or have some other status preventing graduation, then your graduation cannot be processed. So submit the requests for approvals in time.
• Reserve enough time 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 may be rescheduled for the next available graduation date.

Look at instructions how to request for graduation

The graduating students take part in a graduation survey. Please answer the survey before requesting graduation, after having submitted your thesis. The results of the survey are used to develop teaching and student services.

The graduation survey questionnaire 2024

The Graduation Days

The graduation day is the same day when the request for graduation should be submitted in Sisu. Below you can find this year's dates for graduation. Degree certificate will be done after the graduation day.

You will be notified personally via email when your degree certificate can be collected from the School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Mainly the degree certificates are completed within about a month of graduation. If the graduation day is near the graduation ceremony, the degree certificate can be received in the ceremony. If you are unable to pick up your certificate at the announced pick-up times, pick-up is possible during semesters on Thursdays from 3-5 pm in Väre room M311, 3rd floor (not in July or at the turn of the year). 

Note! The preparation of the certificates completed in May, June and July will start in August due to the assessment schedules of master's theses and the staff's summer vacations.

If you would like your degree certificate to be mailed, please notify it in SISU with a graduation request. For mailing, we will later ask you to fill out a letter of attorney. Note! The degree certificates will not be posted within the capital region (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen).

Students graduating with a Master of Arts (Art and Design) degree or, in the field of technology, with a Master of Science (Architecture)/(Landscape Architecture) degree must complete all studies that will be included in the degree and have these studies registered as completed by the time they apply for a degree certificate. An exception to this rule are the Master’s thesis which have to be submitted for evaluation in its final form by the time the student applies for a degree certificate. In addition, the thesis has to be archived in the Aaltodoc publication archive through MyStudies. The thesis can be registered as approved even after the student has applied for a degree certificate.

Graduation dates 2025

ARTS graduates have a ceremony twice a year, in January (June - November graduates) and June (December - May graduates). The next graduation ceremony will be held on 10th January 2025.

You will receive an email inquiring about your participation in the Graduation Ceremony.

Graduation ceremony is a celebration where the graduating students who have signed up for the ceremony in advance receive their degree certificates.

A graduating student may invite two guests to the graduation ceremony. The dress code is smart casual, considering the prestigious nature of the celebration.

The details of the programme are included in the invitation that is sent to the graduates by email.

There are reserved seats for the graduates in the front rows. The graduates are asked to arrive 15 minutes before the ceremony begins.

In addition to the School of ARTS graduation ceremony, an outdoor event “Graduation Party” will be organized in the middle of June 2025 for all bachelors, masters and licentiates who have graduated between 1 May 2024 and 30 April 2025 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 at https://www.aalto.fi/en/gradparty. 

Students who, in the course of their studies towards either the bachelor’s or master’s degree, have shown excellent knowledge of the field as well as exceptional maturity and sense of judgment in the thesis may have this recognised in their degree certificate with the phrase ‘completed with honours’. The decision regarding awarding a degree with honours rests with the school.

In the field of technology a degree may be awarded with honours if the weighted average grade of the studies (with the thesis) included in the degree is at least 4.00 and if the thesis grade is 4 or 5.

If you graduate in the beginning of a term and you are able to change your enrolment status from attendance to non-attendance before the enrolment period ends, you can apply for a membership fee refund from the Student Union.Those who graduate later during the autumn term can apply for a refund on the following term’s membership fee, i.e. for the spring term. https://www.ayy.fi/en/membership-and-student-card/membership-fee

Your study right at Aalto University ends on your graduation date. Because the digital student card Frank App deploys a real-time system in verifying your student status, you cannot continue using the Frank App after you have graduated. If you have a plastic student card, it is valid until the end of your AYY membership period. However, note that if you have a plastic student card and you apply for reimbursement of the membership fee, you must visit your School’s Student Service point with your student card. The Student Service point will record the change and remove the academic year tag on your student card. Further information  https://www.ayy.fi/en/membership-and-student-card/student-card-and-frank-app

• Return all keys and access badges.
• The right to access Aalto University IT services will remain valid for two (2) months after your graduation, after which it will be removed. 
• Remember to make a copy of the files in your university-provided home directory (network drive) and cloud services (e.g. Google Drive) for yourself, as the files in your home directory will be removed once your access rights expire.
• Any messages sent to a closed Aalto e-mail account will not be delivered. If you have used your Aalto University e-mail address to create user accounts for other services (e.g. Apple ID or Dropbox), please remember to replace the Aalto address with your personal e-mail address in those services.
• Please note that you may be bound by a confidentiality obligation even after your graduation, if you have, for instance, gained access to secret information while in a position of trust at the university.

Aalto University graduates' degree information is saved automatically in Aalto's alumni and partner system (CRM) after the graduation.

By joining Aalto Alumni Circle, the digital network,  you can update your contact details, keep in touch with fellow graduates and current students and you can obtain @alumni.aalto.fi mailbox.

Further infomation: aalto.fi/en/alumneille (aalto.fi) or [email protected]

National career monitoring survey is conducted by Career Services of Finnish Universities. The target group in Master's survey is alumni who graduated five years ago and in Doctoral survey alumni who graduated three years.

Please take time to respond when you get the survey after graduation, your response is highly appreciated! It will provide current information from the working life that can be utilized in the development of teaching and research. Additionally, students who are still deciding on their studies and job opportunities value the information gained from the career paths of graduates.

For more information: https://www.aalto.fi/en/collaboration/aalto-university-graduates-in-working-life

Take care that the completed thesis has been submitted for approval and evaluation in mystudies.aalto.fi (see detailed instructions).

To be able to apply for graduation, you must be enrolled as attending for the current semester.

You cannot graduate as a non-attending or passive student (if your study status is either of these, please contact your programme staff).

Submit a graduation application in Sisu immediately after turning in your last study attainment (e.g., a thesis). This does not have to be recorded in Sisu to apply for graduation.

Please respond to the TEK Graduate Survey which will take about 20 minutes.

With this survey, Aalto University collects feedback on the studies, study content and employment of new Master's degree graduates. To develop study programmes and university activities in the future, and monitor employment and salary levels of graduates,it is crucial we hear the voice of students.

Instructions to Sisu https://www.aalto.fi/en/applications-instructions-and-guidelines/request-for-graduation

Keep following your aalto email as you will receive information about the certificate status and pickup. You can either decide to collect the certificate from the Student Service Desk independently, have it mailed to you (e.g., if you live abroad) or participate in a Graduation Ceremony where you get the certificate.

At the end of each academic year, Aalto University also hosts a Ceremony Week. Next Ceremony Week will be organised in June 2025.

Students who, in the course of their studies towards either the bachelor’s or master’s degree, have shown excellent knowledge of the field as well as exceptional maturity and sense of judgment in the thesis may have this recognised in their degree certificate with the phrase ‘completed with honours’. The decision regarding awarding a degree with honours rests with the school.

In the field of technology a degree may be awarded with honours if the weighted average grade of the studies (with the thesis) included in the degree is at least 4.00 and if the thesis grade is 4 or 5.

In the field of economics and business administration a degree may be awarded with honours if the weighted average grade of the studies (with the thesis) included in the degree is at least 4.50.

If the thesis included in the degree has been graded on a grading scale other than the scale from 0 to 5, the thesis will be taken into calculation in accordance with provisions that were in force before this regulation entered into force.

Language versions of the commendations:

(su) Tutkinto on suoritettu erinomaisesti.

(sv) Examen har avlagts med utmärkta insikter.

(en) The degree was completed with honours.

This decision will enter into force concerning the degrees awarded in the field of technology and in the fields of economics and business administration as of 1 December 2021.

If you graduate in the beginning of a term (autumn or spring), and you can change your enrolment status from attendance to non-attendance in OILI before the enrolment period ends, you can apply for a membership fee refund from Student Union AYY.

If you graduate later during the autumn term and have paid for the entire academic year, you can apply for a refund of the spring term’s membership fee. Read more on AYY website: https://www.ayy.fi/en/membership-and-student-card/membership-fee.

Your study right at Aalto University ends on your graduation date. Because the digital student cards deploy a real-time system in verifying your student status, you cannot use your digital student card after you have graduated.

If you have a plastic student card, it is valid until the end of your AYY membership period. However, if you have a plastic student card and you apply for reimbursement of the membership fee, you must visit Starting Point with your student card. Starting Point will record the change of your status and remove the academic year tag on your student card.

Further information: https://www.ayy.fi/en/membership-and-student-card/student-card-and-frank-app

• When your right to study ends, remove all the software that the university has provided for home use, unless otherwise stated in the license agreement of the software.
• Return all borrowed study material and equipment.
• Return all keys and access badges.
• The right to access Aalto University IT services remain valid for two months after your graduation. The validity of the access rights may be extended beyond two months only for exceptional reasons.
• Remember to make a copy of the files in your university-provided home directory (network drive) and cloud services (e.g., Google Drive) for yourself. The files in your home directory will be removed once your access rights expire.
• Any messages sent to a closed Aalto email account will not be delivered. If you have used your Aalto University email address to create user accounts for other services (for example Apple ID or Dropbox), please remember to replace the Aalto address with your personal email address in those services.

Please note that you may be bound by a confidentiality obligation even after you graduate, if you have, for instance, gained access to secret information while in a position of trust at the university.

IT Service Desk contact information and service hours

National career monitoring survey is conducted by Career Services of Finnish Universities. The target group in the master's survey is alumni who graduated five years ago. In the doctoral survey, alumni who graduated three years ago.

Please take the time to respond when you receive the survey after graduation. Your response is highly appreciated! It will provide current information from working life that can be utilized in developing teaching and research. Additionally, students who are still deciding on their studies and job opportunities value the information gained from the career paths of graduates.

For more information: https://www.aalto.fi/en/collaboration/aalto-university-graduates-in-working-life

Aalto University graduates' degree information is saved automatically in Aalto's alumni and partner system (CRM) after graduation.

By joining Aalto Alumni Circle, the digital network, you can update your contact details, stay connected with fellow graduates and current students, and you can obtain an @alumni.aalto.fi mailbox.

Further information: https://www.aalto.fi/en/for-alumni or [email protected].