EVERYDAY LIFE OF A STUDENT

It’s easier to enjoy student life when your day-to-day necessities are in order. This section aims to answer practical questions about housing, income, and health care. Fortunately, there is no need to worry. We, students, are pretty well taken care of –our student union AYY, the social security institution KELA and the Finnish Student Health Service YTHS, amongst others, are here to help us.

Housing

AYY owns apartments that are rented out to students of Aalto University. However, AYY does not have adequate housing for all Aalto University students, so you should also search for an apartment through other channels.

First-year students and students moving from outside the metropolitan area have priority in the housing queue. You can apply for housing as soon as you receive the confirmation of your place of study. A so-called freshman point is available for AYY’s shared apartment queues. To receive the freshman point, you must apply for housing no later than in July or December, depending on when your studies begin.

Applying for AYY’s housing

1. Get to know the housing section on AYY’s website: ayy.fi/asuminen

2. Carefully read through the application info: ayy.fi/fi/nain-haet-asuntoa

3. Apply for AYY’s housing through Domo system: domo.ayy.fi

Questions concerning housing are addressed to AYY’s Housing Office:

• ayy.fi/fi/asuminen/kysy-asumisesta

• 050 520 9410

• Otakaari 11, 02150 Espoo

Other housing options in the metropolitan area:

• Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region, HOAS, is the largest student housing provider in the metropolitan area: hoas.fi

• Student nations of the University of Helsinki: osakunta.fi/fi/osakunnat/

Student financial aid

Student financial aid is a social benefit, which consists of three parts:

1. Study grant

2. Housing supplement (students in rental housing)

3. Student loan

In order to receive student financial aid, you must gain at least 5 ECTS per supported month. However, the minimum is 20 ECTS per academic year, regardless of the number of months for which you receive student financial aid. In addition, since student financial aid is a social benefit, the amount of your income affects how many months of student financial aid you are entitled to during the year.

Students who begin their academic studies for the first time in 2023 have 30 months of financial aid for completing the lower university degree. When students have completed their Bachelor’s degree and continue to the Master’s degree, they are entitled to 21 additional months of financial aid. However, a student can use no more than 48 financial aid months in total for completing both degrees. Further information at kela.fi/opintotuki

In recent years, there have been many changes to student financial aid, so remember to check and ask if anything is unclear to you!

Monitor your income

If you work or get a summer job among studies and earn more than the income limits of student financial aid allow, you need to return the extra financial aid on your own initiative or cancel the aid in advance for the number of months necessary. Read more at kela.fi/opinto-tuki-omat-tulot. You should avoid using financial aid months unnecessarily, as you will not get back the months already used, even if you still have studies left. Thus, do not use your financial aid for sick leave or a holiday! If your sick leave is prolonged, you can apply for a sickness allowance. Read more about this at kela.fi/opintotuki-jos-sairastut

Health and Wellbeing

Finnish Student Health Service (YTHS)

The Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS or YTHS in Finnish) takes care of university students’ health. You can always make an appointment with FSHS when you are in need of health services. Since the beginning of 2021, the students entitled to FSHS services such as yourself have paid the healthcare fee, which is 35,80€ per semester, to Kela. The fee needs to be paid unprompted (you won’t be sent an invoice regarding it) twice a year and you can pay the fee at oma.kela.fi. If FSHS is closed or you cannot make an appointment, you can always use your own municipal health centre or emergency services.

During your first year of studies, you will receive a request to participate in the electronic health survey of FSHS (SÄTKY) which is designed for reviewing the health of first year students. It is very important that you respond to it. The survey will be sent to you via the online service Self and registration is needed. After responding to the survey, you will receive an invitation to visit a public health nurse and/or dental care if necessary.

FSHS health centres in the metropolitan area:

• Otaniemi: Otakaari 12, Espoo

• Töölö: Töölönkatu 37 A, Helsinki

You may use the services of any health centre, also in other municipalities, if you wish to do so. Further information can be found at yths.fi.

Exhaustion and concerns

In case of any concerns or exhaustion, you can turn to the students’ support centre Nyyti or the university pastors of Aalto. With studyrelated challenges, you can turn to student affairs services at your school or Aalto’s study psychologists, opintopsykologi@aalto.fi.

Inappropriate behaviour and harassment

You do not have to tolerate inappropriate behaviour.

If you have witnessed or experienced harassment, you can contact AYY’s trained harassment contact people Ronja Mäkinen or Rasmus Ruohola at equity@ayy.fi for help and support. The service is strictly confidential. You can also get in touch with the Manager of Academic Affairs of Aalto BIZ Pia Lahti pia.lahti@aalto.fi, KY’s Executive Director Heidi Riihimäki heidi.riihimaki@ky.fi or your own tutor, who can then guide you forward.

University Sports Services – UniSport

UniSport offers Aalto University students inexpensive sports services and has sports facilities on the City Centre Campus of the University of Helsinki as well as in Kumpula, Meilahti, Otaniemi, and Töölö. UniSport offers, amongst other things, group exercise classes, ball games, a gym, and various courses. Further information can be found at unisport.fi.

Transportation

A 40% discount is granted on seasonal tickets for students if they are registered within the HSL region (Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Vantaa) and have the student status registered on their HSL travel card. The student discount is also granted to intern ational exchange students residing temporarily within the HSL region. Further information on fares, the purchase of the travel card, and the discount ticket application can be found at hsl.fi/liput-ja-hinnat.

More specific routes and schedules are available on the timetables of transport companies or on the Journey Planner reittiopas.fi, where you can easily find the current timetables and routes of public transport.

Long-distance transport

VR offers a student discount on long-distance train journeys. Read more at vr.fi. The student discounts of Matkahuolto can be found at matkahuolto.fi. You need to have your valid student card with you both on the train and the bus to be eligible for the student discount.

Student meal subsidy

By presenting a valid student card or a receipt of a paid student union membership fee, you can get the student discount at student restaurants subsidised by Kela. Usually, you need to pay around 2,70–3,00€ for your lunch.

Student card

As a student you get to enjoy various discounts and benefits – but to be eligible, you need to prove your student status by showing a valid student card. After having paid the membership fee of your student union, you may download the Frank App on Google Play or AppStore to your phone to use your digital student card. If you want to order the physical card to show your student status, you will find the instructions at frank.fi/en/studentcard/.

Once your student card is ready, Frank will deliver it to you at home. During the first weeks of autumn, this may take a while as every new student will be ordering their card simultaneously.