Master's Degree Programme in International Business and Sales Management

Eligibility

1) Previous degree

A 3-year Bachelor’s degree (at least) in an appropriate field from a recognised university or a recognised university of applied sciences/polytechnic. The degree must give the right to apply for university-level master's studies in the country concerned.  

If you have not completed your Bachelor's degree by the application deadline, you are eligible to apply. In this case, you may be admitted to the Master's degree programme on the condition that you graduate and send an officially attested copy of the degree certificate to the University no later than 10 August 2022 at 15.00 pm (Helsinki time). If you do not submit the degree certificate to the University in time, this conditional admission will expire. 

Applicants holding a provisional degree certificate may also apply for the programme. That is, the degree must be verifiably completed and the required documents of the completion of this degree must be submitted. 

Regardless of your educational background, you have to apply to our programme with your Bachelor’s degree. 
 
Applicants selected to pursue the Master's degree may be required to take supplementary studies.

2) Previous academic business studies  

A minimum of 60 ECTS in academic business studies is required. Language, communication and research method studies, internships and final thesis/exam are not included in the above-mentioned studies. However, one course in economics, one course in logistics and one course in mathematics may be included in the above-mentioned studies.   

3) Proficiency in English 

The applicants are to prove their language skills in English as follows:

1. English language test:

• TOEFL Internet-based: Total Score min. 92 and 22 in writing
• IELTS (Academic): Overall Score min. 6.5 and 5.5 in writing
• PTE (Pearson Test of English), min. 62 points and 54 in writing
• C1 Advanced: 180 and min. 162 in writing (or at least level C)
• C2 Proficiency: 180 and min. 162 in writing  (or least level C1)
• National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) -test: level 5 in the reading comprehension, writing and speaking subtests

Learn more about the language requirements here.

2.  Or, if the applicant fulfils at least one of the following requirements, a separate language test is not required but the applicant is to prove his/her English proficiency with the applicable degree certificate and the transcript of his/her academic record:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree conducted in English language in a Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden)
• Bachelor's or Master's degree conducted in English language in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States
• Bachelor's or Master's degree conducted in English language in an EU/EEA country
• Secondary education conducted in English language in a Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden)
• Secondary education conducted in English language in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States
• Secondary education conducted in English language in an EU/EEA country
• English as the A1 language as part of an International Baccalaureate examination (minimum grade 2)
• Secondary education conducted in a Nordic country (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden)

Finnish applicants with foreign Bachelor's degrees, please see "Kieli- ja viestintäopinnot ja koulusivistyskieli" in the Faculty's study guide.

All available study programmes in Finland can be found on the Opintopolku portal where applicants can search for suitable programmes and start the application.

Applicants are required to prioritize one program over the others, if they apply for more than one program from the UEF's Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies. If applicants are admitted to all the programs of their choice, a study place will only be offered for the prioritized program, cancelling the study place from the other programs. 

The online application is only open during the application period. Online applications are to be submitted through Studyinfo portal. Once you have filled out the online application, required enclosures must be uploaded electronically to the application (recommended file types pdf and jpeg, max. file size 10 MB) until 26 January 2022 at 15.00 PM (Helsinki time). Country-specific requirements will be announced here.

Applicants will be selected to pursue Master's degree studies on the basis of their applications. Results will be announced on 31 March 2022, at the latest. The process could be finalized well before the set deadline.

Supporting documents to be enclosed along with the online application

• Degree certificate, and if necessary, an English translation provided by an authorised translator. If you are applying with one degree and indicating your language skills with another, you are required to submit educational documents regarding both degrees.
• English language test certificate (if needed)
• Original (or officially certified copy of) transcript of academic record, and if necessary, an English translation provided by an authorised translator. The transcript must include the number of credits, grading, and date of each study unit, and also the scale of grading used by the university, otherwise the application will not be considered.
• Letter of motivation
• GMAT score (if needed in the case the applicant has not completed bachelor’s thesis)
• A copy of a passport/other document of identification (not required from Finnish applicants)

Applications that satisfy the admission requirements will be put through a subsequent evaluation process in order to determine, which applicants are selected for admission to the programme. We accept only official online applications. The applicants that fulfil the admission requirement of previous degree, previous studies, and English language skills are ranked according to the criteria below. Applicant may obtain a maximum of 30 admission points. The programme admits 30 students annually.

The eligible applicants will be evaluated according to the following principles:

1. Motivation

Letter of motivation in English according to the following criteria (Max. 1000 words as a whole) (max 5 admission points).

Try to keep the motivation letter no longer than 1,000 words and answer the questions in your own words.:

• A short introduction of the applicant (degrees and studies, current professional activity, special academic and professional merits, international experience and interests)
• Reasons for applying to the programme
• How are you planning to complete the Master’s Degree in two years?
• How would the Master’s Degree Programme in International Business and Sales Management benefit your career/future plans?
• See the research topics and questions of the program you are applying for: Which topic or topics would you like to research in your master’s thesis? (max. 500 words of 1000)

2. Academic research skills (the better of following criteria, a or b, is considered if the applicant has both)

a. Bachelor's thesis (or equivalent) grade:

• 4,0 or more: 10 points
• 3,99 or less: 0 points

If the grading is other than 1-5, it will be converted to 1-5.

b. In case there is no final thesis grade in the degree, the applicants may obtain  points from a Graduate Management Admission Test based on their GMAT score:

• score 600 or more = 10 points
• 599 or less = 0 points

Please note that it takes 20 calendar days for you to receive a GMAT score after completing the test. Note also that the gmat test is for a fee.
 

3. General study success: grade point average (GPA) as follows:

• 4,0 or more: 15 points
• 3,0-3,99: 8 points
• 2,99 or less: 0 points

The grade point average must either be given in the degree certificate, transcript of records or a separate, certified calculation, otherwise the applicant receives 0 points. If the applicant’s GPA does not follow the ECTS grading system, it will be converted accordingly.

Results

Applicants will be selected to pursue Master's degree studies based on their applications. Results will be announced on 31 March 2022, at the latest. The process could be finalized well before the set deadline.  

When the selection decision has been made, the results will be sent immediately to the applicants by e-mail. Those applicants who have been accepted will receive a Notification of Admission, a Confirmation Form, and information package (including information about accommodation, student insurance programme, student union etc.) by email. These accepted applicants are required to formally accept their study place no later than 15 July 2022. This is an absolute deadline and will be treated as such. The autumn semester courses will begin on 1 September 2022.

According to the One study place per term provision, a student may accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland during one academic term. This rule applies to all higher education. For more information please see Opintopolku portal.

The annual tuition fee is applied in the Master's Degree Programme in International Business and Sales Management for non-EU/EEA students. The tuition fee will remain the same for students throughout the entire time of completing their degrees. The tuition fee is 8,000 € per academic year (16,000 € for 2 years).  The due date for the first instalment is 31 July 2022.

What does the tuition fee include?  

The tuition fee covers the studies included in the degree (personal study plan) and studies-related supervision and councelling and, studies-related supporting services offered by the university. In addition, students are also entitled to the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). NOTE! There are separate fees for FSHS and the Student Union (learn more below). The university assists students in finding accommodation. See also the residence permit requirements and application process from the Finnish Immigration Service website.

What is Early Bird deduction?

The University of Eastern Finland will also grant an Early Bird tuition fee deduction of 500 € to students who accept the study place and pay the tuition fees within three weeks of the date the results are published (for Master's students starting in autumn 2022 by 21.4.2022).

How to apply for a waiver and a Finland Scholarship?

The University of Eastern Finland offers all new students a partial tuition waiver in Master's degree programmes offered in English. In the Master's Degree Programme in International Business and Sales Management, the tuition waiver is 50% of the annual tuition fee. The waiver is personal and it is awarded for two academic years. For the second year of study, tuition waivers are available to students who have completed a minimum of 55 ECTS of studies included in their degree, during their first year of study.

The University of Eastern Finland will also grant a Finland Scholarship (Suomi-stipendi) of € 5 000 for the two best applicants in each Master's degree programme. The Finland Scholarship is granted for the first year of Master’s studies and the students who receive it must be non-EU/EEA citizens who are liable to pay tuition fees. The Finland Scholarship includes:

• 100 % tuition waiver for the first year's tuition fee (value € 8 000 in the Master's Degree Programme in International Business and Sales Management)
• € 5 000 relocation grant 

The Finland scholarship is a one-year scholarship for first-year Master’s students. For the second year of study, students need to secure sufficient funds themselves. The programmes' general tuition waivers will be offered for the second-year studies.  

The Finland Scholarships will be granted until 2024. Students who apply to Master’s studies in 2025 are not eligible. The national Finland Scholarship programme is funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.

The waiver and the Finland scholarship are applied for when applying for admission to the university by filling out the relevant sections of the application form in the Opintopolku portal. The decision about the waiver and Finland Scholarship are made in connection with student admission, and the student is notified of the matter in the letter of acceptance. See the criteria at admission requirements.

Waivers and scholarships are always personal. The decisions on waivers and scholarships cannot be appealed against.

Learn more about the tuition fees, waivers and Finland scholarships here. If you have any questions about tuition fees and waivers, please don't hesitate to contact: mdp-ibs@uef.fi.

Other considerations

The waiver is awarded for two academic years. The first year waiver will be granted based on the criteria prepared in connection with the preparation of the student admission criteria. However, the waiver awarded for the second year is conditional and tied to the progress of the student's studies. The prerequisite for the waiver to continue in the second academic year is that the student has completed a minimum of 55 ECTS credits of studies that are included in his or her degree during the first academic year (transferred credits are not taken into consideration). If the above prerequisite is not met, the conditional waiver awarded for the second academic year can be discontinued on this basis. The student is heard in the matter before a decision to discontinue the waiver is made.    

The UEF does not offer selected students any additional funding, financial aid or working opportunities. Therefore, students must be able to cover all their own living costs in Finland independently. Finding any other funding opportunities is also the responsibility of the students himself/herself.  

One's own finances are one of the requirements for the Finnish residence permit, and finances need to be available permanently on a student's bank account for the whole period the permit is applicable. Completely financing one's stay and studies in Finland by working is not possible, though part-time work may be available. For more information about the residence permit, please see the Finnish government's Immigration service at migri.fi. 

For further information, please see Studying in Finland (Finnish Immigration Service).

Other mandatory fee  

All degree students of the university are members of the Student Union. Under the student union act, all Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students are required to join the Student Union and must therefore pay the student union membership fee.

The Student Union membership fee entitles the student to, for example:     

• free basic health care    
• reduced lunch prices at student cafeterias    
• discounts on local buses and long-distance transportation    
• discounts on many public services and free-time activities

Further information is available on the website of the Student Union.

University students who are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) (opens in a new tab) have been required since January 2021 to pay a student healthcare fee to Kela for each academic term. All students who are registered as attending for the current term and are studying for a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree are entitled to FSHS services.