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Student marketing and recruitment 

As a programme director, together with your academic community and those responsible for student marketing and recruitment, your task is to maintain and develop the appeal and visibility of the degree programme in order to attract suitable students. 

The main marketing content is the programme description, for the accuracy of which you are responsible. The programme description should also present the distinctive features of the programme, the background expected from students and examples of possible career paths. 

The Communications Services provide comprehensive guidelines for marketing degree programmes and recruiting new students, which you can explore on the service page (link takes you outside the Programme Director’s Handbook).

The annual clock for programme directors (link takes you ºÚÁÏÍø’s service platform) provides more detailed information on schedules and activities related to marketing. 

On the degree programme data report (link takes you ºÚÁÏÍø’s PowerBI reporting tool) you can find a wide range of statistics on applicants and on students who have started their studies in the student marketing report. 

Student admissions 

The selection criteria and quotas are set by the schools. Student admissions are particularly affected by the level of the study programme (whether it is a bachelor’s or a master’s programme) and the language of the study programme. The most important matters and dates related to student admission can be found in the programme director’s annual clock. For details you can get help from the coordinator of your degree programme.  

Tuition fees and scholarships  

Tuition fees are charged from students coming from outside the EU/EEA area and Switzerland who study in bachelor’s and master’s programmes taught in languages other than Finnish or Swedish. The president decides on the tuition fees, the amount of which is determined by the field, the level of the degree and the starting date of the right to study. International joint programmes may have fees and scholarships that differ from Aalto’s tuition fee levels.   

The vice president decides annually on the maximum amount of scholarships awarded in admissions. Where necessary, the dean may also define a smaller scholarship quota for a programme. The scholarships granted in admissions are 100% tuition fee waivers. As programme director you are responsible, where necessary, for allocating scholarships between the programme’s study options if there are not enough scholarships to distribute evenly to everyone.   

Programmes may also have scholarships based on donations. You will receive support from the Donor Relations team if a partner, alumnus or other contact is interested in supporting tuition fee liable students financially in the form of a donation.  

Taking into account tuition fee liable students in the programme’s annual processes  

Taking into account tuition fee liable students in the programme’s annual processes  

The special needs of tuition fee liable students should be taken into account in study guidance and in annual processes related to studies. They pay for their studies annually, and flexibility in tuition fees can only be granted in exceptional cases, as the fees are based on the Universities Act.  

It is important in the programme to ensure that the programme’s studies can be completed within the target time so that delays in studies do not cause additional costs for the student in the form of extra tuition fees. The special needs of tuition fee liable students related to, among other things, entry into the country and residence permit matters, fees and scholarships should be considered in all study guidance, and the processes for orientation, the thesis and graduation should be developed so that they support completing studies and graduating within the target time without unnecessary delays. In all questions concerning tuition fees and in any potentially challenging situations you will receive support from the tuition fee experts in the school and programme management services.  

Student orientation 

The primary aim of orientation is to support students’ integration into their studies and the study community during their first academic year. Integration helps studies progress smoothly and supports students to graduate within the target time. The objectives of orientation at Aalto University have been gathered under the heading AFYE – Aalto First Year Experience, and they are: 

• A smooth start to studies – the student has the necessary knowledge and skills for planned, systematic studying. 
• A positive attitude towards studying – the student is motivated and committed to their studies. 
• The student feels that they belong not only to the student community but to the entire university community. 
• Awareness and coverage of services intended to support studying – it is important to convey to the student the feeling that they are not alone, but that help is available when needed. 

 You can find more information about student orientation on the following service page (the link leads outside the Programme director’s handbook).

Programme director’s annual clock provides more detailed information on the schedules and measures related to student orientation. 

New students’ integration into the degree programme   

Studies have identified integration into one’s studies as being associated with better study motivation, higher grades and a lower risk of dropping out. Both the work of the academic staff of the degree programme and successful orientation of new students are key to a smooth start to studies and support integration into them.  

The first study year and teaching 

From the perspective of integration into studies, the first year of study in the degree programme is the most important. According to research, well-organised, coherent teaching, teaching methods that encourage student engagement and the feedback students receive all support integration into studies. 

Academic advising  

The duties of the programme director include ensuring that the students in their own programme have an academic advisor. The academic advisor is a representative of the programme, a person the student will become familiar with and with whom the student can discuss their study-related goals, as well as matters related to research and the field. More detailed practices vary between schools. You can find more information on the following page (the link leads outside the Programme director’s handbook). 

Internationality of the degree programme 

Aalto University encourages its students to gain international experience during their studies. One of the best ways to acquire the global competence and language skills required in working life is to go on exchange. Aalto University has student exchange cooperation with top universities around the world. As a programme director, your task is to help ensure that your programme offers genuine opportunities for going on exchange and, correspondingly, willingness to receive incoming international exchange students. The application periods for student exchange are marked in the programme director’s annual calendar. 

Other mobility opportunities include, for example, internships abroad and various short-term mobility periods that are available ºÚÁÏÍø University students through international network and university cooperation. 

The internationality of the programme also stems from international degree students. As a programme director, you can support the integration of international students and the internationalisation at home of other students by taking international students into account in the programme’s activities, development and various interaction situations. 

Theses 

For theses, the programme director’s task is to ensure that the programme’s studies, supervision practices and the actual thesis supervision process support the writing of the thesis.  The thesis is an independent piece of work by the student, but the student both has the right to receive supervision and the obligation to ensure the quality of their work by discussing it with their supervisor during the thesis process. 

The form of supervision and the practices for matching supervisors and students vary between schools. The thesis functionality of the Student Success service platform implements and supports the master’s thesis process. In some schools, programme directors have a role in approving thesis supervisors in the system. More information about the thesis process is available on the following page (the link leads outside the Programme Director’s Handbook). 

On the education programme data report you can find, among other things, completed and unfinished theses. 

Graduation 

Students in your degree programme can apply for a degree certificate and graduate when all studies included in the degree, including the thesis, have been completed and recorded in the student information register. It is good to remember that some international students are also liable to pay tuition fees, for whom studies are subject to a tuition fee. It is therefore important in the programme to develop teaching, guidance and the graduation process so that they enable the completion of studies and graduation without unnecessary delays.

Programme director’s annual clock provides the annual graduation schedules.  

The degree programme data report contains, among other things, the results of graduate feedback surveys and alumni surveys.