Eligibility
Selection methods
Eligibility requirements
You can apply to the Master’s Programme in Urban Studies and Planning if you meet the following criteria:
You have completed an applicable first-cycle (bachelor’s) degree at a higher education institution in Finland or abroad, or will do so by the deadline.
You have sufficient skills in Finnish, Swedish or English.
You have completed a sufficient amount of studies applicable to the master’s programme.
Admission
If you do not meet these criteria, you cannot apply through this application procedure.
1. You have completed a higher education degree providing eligibility for master’s studies
To apply in master's admissions, you must have completed, by the deadline, a higher education degree providing eligibility for master’s studies.
If the degree providing eligibility has been completed in Finland, the deadline is 31 July 2027.
If the degree providing eligibility has been completed outside Finland, the deadline is 31 August 2027.
Therefore, you can apply even if your degree will not be completed during the application period.
The Master's Programme in Urban Studies and Planning:
You can be admitted to the Master's Programme if you have completed or will complete by the deadline a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent at a university or an institution of higher education in an applicable field.
Applicable fields for the programme are for example
administrative sciences
cultural studies
development studies
ecology
economics
environmental sciences
geography
geoinformatics
history
language studies
political studies
real estate economics
social research
social sciences
sustainability studies
urban and regional planning
urban studies
youth studies
another applicable field
You can only be admitted if the degree you would be eligible to complete with the right to pursue studies you are applying for is sufficiently different in terms of its contents from the degree you have already completed.
2. Sufficient skills in Finnish, Swedish or English
You must demonstrate sufficient skills in Finnish, Swedish or English at the application stage. For the methods of demonstrating your language skills, please see the University website.
3. Studies serving as grounds for application
You can be admitted to the Master's Programme in Urban Studies and Planning if you have completed or will complete by the application deadline:
studies relevant to the programme and the target degree.
Studies completed after the application deadline will not be taken into account in the assessment of your application..
The applicability and sufficient scope of studies will be assessed after you submit your application. The University of Helsinki does not make preliminary assessments of the applicability of studies.
Selection of target degree and language
Choosing the degree for which you are applying
When filling in the application form, you have to select the degree for which you are applying. You must select one of the following degrees:
Master of Science (Faculty of Science), 10 new students
Master of Social Sciences (Faculty of Social Sciences), 10 new students
Master of Science (Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences), 5 new students
Master of Arts (Faculty of Arts), 5 new students
You cannot change the selection after the application deadline. If you are admitted, you will be granted the right to pursue the degree you indicated on the application form.
If the maximum number of students admitted to one of the degrees is not reached, the other degrees can admit more students than the maximum number announced in advance, thus reaching the maximum number for the master’s programme.
Selecting the language of the degree
In the Master’s Programme in Urban Studies and Planning, you can select Finnish, Swedish or English as the language of your degree. You will select the language on the application form. This selection is binding, and you must demonstrate your skills in the selected language.
In multilingual master’s programmes, teaching is provided mostly in English, but you can answer examination questions, complete any written coursework and write your master’s thesis in the language of your degree.
The Master’s Programme in Urban Studies and Planning prepares students to excel as professionals capable of understanding and addressing complex urban development challenges. The program balances theoretical, historical and conceptual knowledge with the acquisition of methods, skills and experiences. Thus, students gain a broad understanding of urban phenomena as well as practical experiences in collaborative and concrete situations. Two prominent Finnish universities, Aalto University and University of Helsinki, have joined forces in this unique and interdisciplinary master’s programme.