Transfers

It is not possible to apply for transfer from a university/university of applied sciences outside of Finland (such applicants must apply through the regular application).

Arcada accepts transfer applications only in the spring. The next application will be open 30 April–15 May 2026, until 3 p.m.

Admissions results will be published at the latest on 18 June 2026. The deadline to accept the offer of a study place will be 31 July 2026 at 3 p.m.

Information on transfer to the Swedish programmes is available on our Swedish website.

Places offered in 2026

• Information Technology; 10 places for applicants starting year 2
  • NB! This programme will only offer first and second year courses during the academic year 2026-2027 since the programme is new.
• International Business:, 10 places for applicants starting year 2;  10 places for applicants starting year 3
• Mechanical and Sustainable Engineering, 15 places

Requirements

You may apply for a transfer of your right to study to Arcada if you:

1. Have a valid right to study at a UAS or university in Finland in a degree programme in English, or where the main language of tuition is English
2. Are studying at a bachelor-level degree programme that corresponds to the bachelor-level degree programme at Arcada you want to transfer to. NB! This means that it is not possible to apply for transfer between Arcada's own bachelor-level programmes as they do not correspond to each other.
3. Have been registered as present at your current institution for at least two semesters (one year) by the time the transfer takes place.
4. Have achieved at least 27,5 credits (relevant to the degree) per academic semester and thereby shown such progress that makes it possible for you to graduate within the prescribed study time. Ongoing courses in the current degree which you will complete by 31.7.2026 will be considered.
5. Have a weighted mean grade of minimum 3/ 5 at the time of application

NB! If you are participating in a commissioned education (education that is commissioned and paid for by a third party) you may not apply for a transfer.

In addition to these general requirements the International Business programme has the following requirements:

• Out of the 27,5 credits/semester a minimum of 25 credits/semester need to be completed from the current school's study plan. This means that applicants applying for a place in the second year need to have 50 credits that fit into their current school's study plan. Applicants applying for a place in the third year need to have a total of 100 credits that fit in their current school's study plan. 
• An applicant needs to have completed an introductory course or the equivalent of this to either Accounting, Logistics or Marketing to be eligible to be admitted.

In addition to these general requirements the Information Technology programme has the following requirements:

• Out of the 27,5 credits/semester a minimum of 25 credits/semester need to be completed from the current school's study plan. This means that applicants applying for a place in the second year need to have 50 credits that fit into their current school's study plan.
  • Out of these 50 credits it is recommended that at least 25 credits consist of programming courses.

The Information Technology programme also has competency requirements. The applicant will not be required to submit proof of the competency requirements, but they are responsible for acquiring the missing competency through for example LinkedIn Learning before the start of studies.

• Proficiency in at least two of the most common programming languages, with advanced proficiency in at least one of them
• Basic competence in server–client communication via HTTP APIs
• File handling, navigation, and server administration via the Linux console

For the Mechanical and Sustainable Engineering programme applicants will be asked to estimate how many of their completed studies could fit into Arcada's study plan. You can find more information about the study plan on this website and an excel with all courses and their links to Sisu by scrolling to the bottom and clicking the link there.

Application

The application needs to be submitted between 30 April-15 May 2026 through Studyinfo. 

Make sure that you select the transfer application option. The application form opens on 30 April 2026 at 9 AM and the application is to be submitted by 15 May 2026. Attachments must be submitted by 20 May 2026, closing time for both dates is 3 p.m.

Please note that there is an application fee. See more info below.

You are to submit the following supplements:

1. A study certificate showing that you have a valid right to study, when your studies started and possible periods of absence.
2. An official transcript of records.
3. A list of any courses still missing from the transcript of records (courses you are currently taking but which are not yet registered on your transcript of records). The list does not have to signed by your UAS/university.
4. Course descriptions of the courses included on your transcript of records and list of unfinished courses.
5. Copies of your senior secondary/high school certificates.
6. Passport/ID card, or attachments proving possible exemption from application and/or tuition fee (e.g. residence permit card).

Please name your documents clearly, for example "Surname First name transcript" or "Surname First name high school diploma". 

Admissions criteria

Transfer can be granted only if there are vacant places in the student group (year 2, year 3 etc.) that you would join. Please note that the year at Arcada might differ from the year at your own university because of differences in the curriculum.

If there are more eligible applicants than available places in the different student groups of the degree programme the applicants will be ranked based on:

1. The weighted mean grade on the transcript of records at the time of application, and
2. The total number of credits on the transcript of records at the time of application.

Applicants may be admitted from the waiting list in ranking order, if places become available. 

Application and Tuition fee

Applicants who are not citizens of the EU, EEA or Switzerland are required to pay an application fee of 100 € in order to apply to higher education studies, and this applies also to the application for transfer. See more on the application fee here 

The tuition fee for transfer students is determined by the start date of their new study right at Arcada UAS. This means that even if you were exempt from tuition fees at your previous school, you may be required to pay tuition fees at your new school. You can read more here about who needs to pay tuition fees. The tuition fee for the first year at Arcada must be paid in full, in one instalment. Scholarships are only available for bachelor's level studies after having studied for a full academic year at Arcada. 

Applicants admitted through transfer are given an early bird offer on the tuition fee. Thus, if a transfer study place is accepted within 14 days, the applicant can make use of a €1,500 deduction on the tuition fee.

More information regarding the tuition fees for bachelor's level studies at Arcada can be found here.

NB!

The degree programmes may have compulsory courses in Swedish. If you at your current UAS/university have studied compulsory Finnish, you may still be expected to also study Swedish at Arcada.

If you are admitted, you may not register as absent for the first term at Arcada.

Be prepared that your studies may take longer if you transfer. Because of differences in the curriculum all studies might not be accredited towards your degree at Arcada. Your current study plan is not valid at Arcada. Also, it may be hard to draw up an individual study plan that contains 30 cr/term (the normal workload). Please note that transferring does not automatically entitle you extended right to study if you fail to graduate within the prescribed time frame.