Checklist for graduates
A checklist of things to do and consider before and after you graduate.
Graduation and registration for the academic year
You must be registered as attending or non-attending during the academic term when your degree is conferred. You may register for non-attendance and still graduate only if you have completed all the studies required for your degree during the previous academic term.
If you have submitted your thesis project for approval on the last day of the previous academic year at the latest and you have completed all other studies required for your degree (incl. the maturity essay), you may register for non-attendance and graduate as a non-attending student if you so choose. You do not have to register as an attending student to have your thesis project graded and approved. If you are liable to pay the annual tuition fee, you will not be charged a tuition fee during the academic term when you graduate.
If you have registered for the academic term following the term of your graduation and do not have another right to complete a degree at Uniarts Helsinki, your registration will be cancelled by your home academy’s academic affairs personnel. You have right to get a refund of the student union membership fee that you have paid in accordance with the Student Union’s decisions.
Make sure you have completed all studies required for your degree
Your personal study plan (PSP) presents the schedule that you plan to follow when completing studies for your degree before your intended date for graduation. When you are closing in on your graduation, find out the graduation dates of your academy and the deadline for applying for a degree certificate. All studies that you need to include in your degree must be completed by the date when you submit your degree certificate application.
Before you anticipate graduating, check that you have completed all studies included in your PSP. You can monitor your academic progress in the PSP saved in the Peppi for Students system or from your list of completed studies (My studies-> Completed studies). You can also monitor your credits in the Tuudo system (Studies-> Completed studies).
If you want someone else to check the status of your studies, you can contact the planning officer of your department, degree programme or subject area.
Check the graduation schedule and register for the graduation ceremony
You can apply for a degree certificate when:
- your thesis project has been approved
- you have taken the maturity test
- you have completed all studies required for your degree
If you are unsure of whether you have completed all of the studies required for your degree, contact the academic affairs staff of your academy or the planning officer of your subject.
Electronic degree certificate and related appendices
The official degree certificate is electronic. The diploma can be downloaded from Peppi on the day of graduation.
You will receive your degree certificate and transcript of records either in Finnish or Swedish and English.
Each student is also given an English-language Diploma Supplement as an appendix to their degree certificate to be used in international contexts. The Diploma Supplement describes the content and level of your degree. It also includes information about the Finnish education system.
Download your degree certificte from Peppi’s Atomi service according to the instructions below. Downloading the certificate requires valid Uniarts user ID. Your user ID expires two months after your graduation date, unless you have been granted another study right, such as a continued right to study. After this, you will not be able to download the official diploma.
If your user ID is not valid, please contact the study services of your own academy or peppi@uniarts.fi to deliver the certificate. Your degree certificate is archived electronically by the University of the Arts.
The degree certificate is a PDF/A file. Never open the certificate in edit mode. When opened in editing mode, the electronic signature certificate is broken, and the document is no longer authentic.
You can create electronic backups of the official certificate. All electronic copies are official and authentic certificates.
The printed degree certicate is neither official nor authentic.
How to download your degree certificate from Peppi
1. Open the Certificate of studies from the navigation menu of the student’s desktop by clicking on the study certificates icon.
2. Your Atomi service that opens has three tabs: New order, Documents and Degree certificate. Go to the degree certificate tab.
3. The tab lists the documents created for you. Your degree certificate can be found in the list under the name Certificate. Download the certificate by clicking Download on the right side.
4. The degree certificate opens either in the browser, is downloaded to the browser’s Downloads folder, or is opened with the default program (e.g. Adobe Reader). This depends on your browser settings. Check the related settings in your browser’s instructions.
5. Save the degree certificate with a recognizable name in your own files.
- It is recommended to store the diploma in a cloud service, for example.
- In addition, you should make a backup copy of the diploma and save it, for example, on a memory stick.
Apply for a degree certificate at the Academy of Fine Arts
Apply for a degree certificate at the Sibelius Academy
Apply for a degree certificate at the Theatre Academy
Fill in your information for the MAx catalogue
The MAx catalogue provides employers with information on new master’s degree graduates.
Graduation and student financial aid from Kela
Do I receive financial aid for the month of my graduation?
If you receive student financial aid, remember that if you graduate before the 18th of the month, you will not be entitled to receive financial aid that month.
How does graduation affect the financial aid income check?
In the income check, the income that you have received during the entire year (1 January – 31 December) is compared to the annual income limit.
When Kela monitors student incomes, Kela checks the income data in the taxation data and the national incomes register. However, graduation cannot always be taken into account in the preliminary decision. In other words, you may receive a preliminary decision even if you have earned your income or part of your income at some other time than during your time as a student. In this case, it is a good idea to request a review from Kela and state when you were an active student and when you earned the income.
Student loan compensation and student loan tax deduction
If you have begun studying for your first university degree on or after 1 August 2014 and you complete your degree within the target time, you may be eligible for a student loan compensation. The student loan compensation means that Kela pays back part of your student loan.
Read about student loan compensation
If you have begun studying for your first university degree before 1 August 2014 and you complete your degree within the target time, you may be eligible for a student loan tax deduction. As you make repayments on your loan to the bank, your taxes are reduced by the amount of the student loan tax deduction.
Things to remember when graduating
Your right to access Uniarts Helsinki systems (uniarts email, Peppi for Students, Moodle, Tuudo etc.) and facilities will expire according to the following schedules:
- If you graduate during the spring term (1 January – 31 July), your access rights will expire on 30 September.
- If you graduate during the autumn term (1 August – 31 December), your access rights will expire on 28 February.
The student account/student card on Tuudo is an exception to this rule, and it will stay valid only until your graduation day.
After graduation, remember to
- save important messages and files from your uniarts email and the university’s network drive
- empty your personal items from Uniarts Helsinki’s facilities (lockers, cabinets etc.)
- return your key tag to staff at the campus info desk
Give feedback on your bachelor’s degree
Bachelor’s Graduate Survey
Finnish universities collect information with the Bachelor’s Graduate Survey, a national student feedback survey. The Bachelor’s Graduate Survey is part of Uniarts Helsinki’s quality system. Uniarts Helsinki makes use of the results from the survey to improve its policies and practices. Out of the basic funding allocated to universities, 3% is allocated on the basis of this student feedback. Bachelor’s students are asked to answer the survey after they graduate.