Start of studies
Your studies start on Monday 18 August 2025 at 10 a.m. on SAMK Campus in Pori. The address is Satakunnankatu 23, Pori, Finland. We’ll see you at the meeting point in the main lobby.
The Welcome Days will provide you a lot of necessary and useful information on settling down and for example, on services offered by the university or the city. You will also be assisted in dealing with non-study related administrative issues. You will also meet your new classmates, peer mentors and some key members of staff.
We recommend that you arrive in Pori at least a couple of days beforehand so that you have time to settle into your new city.
On the first day of your studies, please bring:
- Your Finnish online banking codes (verkkopankkitunnukset in Finnish) for identification, if you have them.
- If you don’t have Finnish online banking codes, please take your passport.
- Your original degree certificates. We’ll review them and return them to you later.
- A copy of your vaccinations certificate (see below).
Please inform us of your arrival schedule
As soon as you receive your residence permit and finalise your travel plans to Finland, kindly fill in the Arrival Formlaunch to let us know about your arrival schedule.
Thank you!
Free bus transportation to Pori or Rauma from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
You can register for free bus transportation from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to Pori or Rauma before the semester begins. The buses depart from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport on:
- 4 August 2025
- 11 August 2025
- 15 August 2025
You can choose to get off at either:
- SAMK Campus Rauma (Satamakatu 26)
- SAMK Campus Pori (Satakunnankatu 23)
Remember that registration is binding, so only register after booking your flight tickets. More information on the buses and the timetable will be published on this page closer to August 2025.
Please note that if you are not able to make it to any of the free bus transportations, you are in charge of planning your own transportation from the airport to Pori or Rauma. You can read more about traveling and arriving to Pori and Rauma on our webpagearrow_forward.
Information about studies:
- Degree programme: Bachelor of Health Care, Nursing.arrow_forward
- Extent of programme studies: 210 ECTS
- Study completion: approximately 3.5 years
- Group number: NNU25SP
- Form of teaching: Studies are conducted during daytime generally Monday-Friday as contact teaching on Pori campus. Your degree programme requires full-time studying and presence on our campus.
- Curriculum: You can take a look at the detailed study content in the curriculum.launch
Curriculum includes Finnish language studies. If your native language is not Finnish, you will study Finnish in accordance with the curriculum in order to achieve the Finnish language skills needed to pursue profession. In Finland Finnish is used in clinical practices.
In addition to the Finnish language studies included in the curriculum, other Finnish language courses are also available. Those are recommended to be studied as elective studies to achieve the language level required for the nursing profession.
Vaccinations
It is extremely important that you have a certificate of adequate valid vaccinations when you start your studies. The law in Finland requires health care students to be vaccinated. Please see the instruction for vaccinationslaunch and be prepared to provide a certificate of your vaccinations in the beginning of your studies. The certificate needs to be written in English or Finnish.
Bring Your Own Device
Studying at SAMK requires you to have your own laptop. Check here the minimum requirementsarrow_forward for your laptop.
Cost of studies
The tuition fee is 9,500 euros per academic year for non-EU/EEA students. In addition to the tuition fee, students need to pay for study expenses e.g. computer, meals, travelling, nursing uniform and shoes, books, handouts etc. themselves. Your studies will include travelling to clinical placements which can cause expenses too. Nursing clinical placements are located in various parts of Satakunta area. Every semester you need to pay the student health care fee, which is 35,60 euros in 2025.
Nursing uniform and shoes
During your studies, you will be required to wear nursing scrubs (uniform) during learning simulations at school campus. Please make arrangements to purchase the nursing scrubs in advance. Feel free to independently explore the available nursing scrubs and purchase the one that appeals to you. Scrubs will only be used at school during learning situations. During your practical training, the place you will go for the placement will provide you with their official nursing scrubs. However, you will need to buy your own work shoes. According to the EU standard, shoes need to be antistatic. The shoes are also suggested to be easily washable for hygienic reasons.
Accommodation and travelling
Our web page for integration servicesarrow_forward provides practical information before arriving to Finland. On our pages you can find information on:
- finding an apartment
- health insurance
- information on budgeting and what to bring with you to Finland
On our webpage on how to get started once in Finlandarrow_forward you can find information on:
- planning your arrival
- handling mandatory administrative practicalities in Finland
Our web page for family servicesarrow_forward provides practical information on:
- day care and school placements.
Recognition of your previous studies
You can apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) if you have previously completed:
- studies in nursing at a University or
- studies in nursing at a University of Applied Sciences or
- Practical Nurse’s Degree in Finland or
- other previous degree/studies in University of Applied Sciences in Finland.
Collect your diplomas, description of contents of each course and possible letters of reference so that you have them ready when your studies start. You will need to provide a detailed course description in addition to the diploma. If your diplomas and descriptions are not in Finnish or English, you must provide English translations. When you start your studies at SAMK, you will have a one-on-one meeting with your tutor teacher to discuss the recognition of your previous studies.
Timetable
You can find timetables in TimeEditlaunch. Choose Public timetable -> Groups’ timetables -> search using the group number or your class NNU25SP. Please note that the schedules will be finalised only in June and may still undergo changes during early August. Also, note that courses often include various assignments and projects for which no time is allocated in the schedule. Therefore, a week that seemingly has few contact hours may still require group or independent work.
Online orientation sessions
We offer several online orientation sessions before the studies start. In these sessions you will gain practical insights into studying at SAMK and living in Finland. The sessions are free of charge and there is no need for registration. Check out the schedule here.arrow_forward
Link to the orientation sessions: https://zoom.us/j/94694127683launch
Meeting ID: 946 9412 7683
Who to contact if you have questions
Ms Anna-Sofia Salminen, anna-sofia.salminen@samk.fi (Out of office 16 June – 10 August 2025)
Ms Katariina Suuriniemi, katariina.suuriniemi@samk.fi (Out of office 16 June – 10 August 2025)
Your tutor teachers can answer questions concerning academic issues and vaccinations. For all other inquiries, contact the Admissions Office, International Relations Coordinator or Migri.
- International Relations Coordinator:
Ms Szilvia Simon-Nagy, tel./Whatsapp 00 358 44 710 3409, szilvia.simon-nagy@samk.fimail
International Relations Coordinator can help you with preparing for your life in Finland:
- accommodation
- administrative issues in Finland
- daycare and school placement for your children
- everyday life in Finland.
You can contact Ms Szilvia Simon-Nagy prior to the beginning of your studies or upon arrival, if necessary, to get help in having a smooth start for your studies in Finland. You can also visit the International Office on campus.
Admissions Office can help you with inquiries related to tuition fees and your arrival schedule.
Curious about student life at SAMK? Chat with our international students and ask them about studying at SAMK, life in Pori and Rauma, and more!
Start the conversation at samk.fi/unibuddyarrow_forward
We recommend that you check out the frequently asked questionslaunch about residence permits for students on Migri’s web page. Please be aware that you cannot speed up the processing of your residence permit application in any way, and we at SAMK cannot expedite it either. To ensure that you receive your residence permit on time to start your studies on campus in August, start your residence permit application as early as possible and upload all the required documentslaunch on your application at once.
