General

• Place: Pasila Campus
• Student intake per annum: 20
• The application period is from 13 February to 30 March 2012, 4.15 pm Finnish time (+2 hrs GMT)
• Application form
• The programme starts in August 2012
• The entrance examination and the interview: 23 May 2012 at Pasila Campus
• Applicants are qualified if they have: 
  • a Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field which contains minimum 15 ECTS credits studies in organizational communication and marketing communication, and/or journalism. These studies can be part of their earlier university studies.
  • at least three years of work experience after their Bachelor’s Degree in the field of organizational communication, marketing or the media until 31 July, 2012
  • good English language skills
• Students will be selected based on an entrance examination, interview, and distance assignment
• Further information is available: admissions(at)haaga-helia.fi,   tel. +358 400 230 409 or Ms. Salla Huttunen, PhD, Head of DP in Communication Management, salla.huttunen(at)haaga-helia.fi

Admission criteria

Potential candidates need to have a Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field which contains a minimum of 15 ECTS credits studies in organizational communication and marketing communication, and/or journalism. Please note that 1 ECTS = 27 hours. These studies may have been accomplished in bachelor's degree programmes or other comparable studies. In addition, the applicant is expected to have a minimum of three years of work experience after their Bachelor’s Degree from the field of organizational communication, marketing or media (by July 31, 2012). Good English language skills are also required. Those applicants who have got a Finnish Certificate called Opistoaste or Korkea-asteen tutkinto and who thereafter have achieved a polytechnic or university degree in the same or corresponding field of study, can also include work experience, i.e. the required work experience, which was carried out before the degree mentioned was passed. Note that the Certificate level of education mentioned is no longer offered.

The selection of students is based on a distance assignment (40 points), written entrance exam (40 points), and on a personal or group interview (20 points). The entrance exam and the interview will be organized on 23 May 2012. In case of the same total points in the entrance examination, applicants will be ranked further on the basis of their success in the following order: (1) written exam; (2) interview; and (3) distance assignment.

What to include in the application

Print out the application form and fill in and include all the following documents:

1. Copies of diplomas and transcripts from Bachelor education (and Finnish Certificate called Opistoaste or Korkea-asteen tutkinto). Copies of relevant certificates and authorized translations must arrive to Admissions office by 30 March 2012.
2. Letters of reference or work certificate issued by prior and current employers based on your work record in business work. If you have worked part-time, the work certificate must clearly indicate the number of work hours per month, 150 work hours or 20 working days (the minimum length of one full working day is 7 hours) compares with one month of work experience. If you have run or are running your own business in Finland, it can be considered as work experience provided you produce a certificate of YEL or MYEL insurance details.  If the documents are in a language other than English, Finnish or Swedish, you must also submit an authorized translation of the work certificates. All accepted students are asked to present the original references to the HAAGA-HELIA UAS Officials during the Orientation workshop in August 2012.
3. Two recommendations letters from the current work place (optional, see clarification below).

NB. The relevant attachments can be in English, Finnish, or Swedish. Authorized translations are required, if the original documents are in a language other than these three. As regards recommendations letters, applicants who work full time may want to include the letters as they may do a thesis that directly aims at improving some practices at the workplace (hence, the Finnish name ”työelämän kehittämistehtävä”). The idea is that the employer/supervisor knows about the applicant’s development wishes and supports her/him in these endeavors.

The applicant is responsible for submitting the application and the required attachments in time. The UAS takes no responsibility for incomplete applications. 

Application process

1. Mail your completed application form with the required attachments to the Admissions Office so that they arrive before the end of the application period (March 30, 2012 - 4:15 pm Finnish time).
2. If qualified, you will receive an invitation letter from the Admissions Office to the examination and interview together with the distance assignment instructions. The Admissions Office will send the letters on 27 April, 2012.
3. Send an e-mail to the Admissions Office confirming your attendance at the entrance examination by May 11. Start working on the distance assignment.
4. Take the entrance examination (40 points), attend the personal or group interview (20 points), and submit your distance assignment (40 points) on 23 May .
5. HAAGA-HELIA will mail the letter of acceptance/rejection by 22 June 2012. If accepted, please send a letter to confirm that you accept the place by 31 July 2012, 4.15 pm. The Programme starts in August 2012.

Entrance exam

If qualified, you will receive an invitation letter from the Admissions office to the examination and interview together with the distance assignment instructions. Please note that the programme does not arrange entrance examinations abroad, the only date available is 23 May 2012 at Pasila campus.

Tuition fee

There will be a tuition fee applicable to students who are citizens of countries outside the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA). The tuition fee doesn't concern all those students mentioned above, please see more from Act on UAS below. The fee, i.e. EUR 3,750.00 per semester, must be paid at the same time when the student confirms the study place received. The tuition fee for Autumn Semester 2012 must be paid by 31 July 2012 at 4.15 pm Finnish time. The tuition fee for Spring Semester 2013 must be paid by 11 December 2012 at 4.15 pm Finnish time.

A scholarship scheme which covers the tuition fee for the second and third semester is available. The scholarships are meant for those paying students who show good results in their studies, i.e. the number and level of the ECTS credits, during the first and second semester. A free form application for the scholarship together with the transcript of records must be submitted to the Programme Director for each semester not later than 10 January for the Spring Semester and 10 September for the Autumn Semester.

ACT ON UNIVERSITIES OF APPLIED SCIENCES
Section 26 b (24.7.2009/564)

Degree programme tuition fees
Universities of applied sciences can, without prohibition by Section 26, charge a tuition fee applicable to persons enrolled in degree programmes taught in a foreign language and leading to a post-graduate degree. The prerequisite for such a tuition fee is that the university has a scholarship scheme that can provide discretionary support for covering the cost of studies for students in such a degree programme.

The tuition fee does not apply to persons who are citizens of countries in the EEA or persons who are treated as EU citizens by agreement by the EU and the country of which the person is a citizen, and also the family members of such persons. The tuition fee is also not applicable to persons who have an EU Blue Card as stipulated in the Aliens Act, an indefinite (type A) or permanent (type P) residence permit, an EC residence permit for third-country citizens with long-term residence, or family members thereof. Family membership is defined as stipulated in the Aliens Act. (16.12.2011/1341).

As stipulated in the relevant legislation (1341/2011), Subsection 2 will remain in force temporarily for the period 1.1.2012-31.12.2014. The wording of the earlier legislation is as follows:
The tuition fee does not apply to persons who are citizens of countries in the EEA or persons who are treated as EU citizens, either by European Community legislation or by agreement by the EU and the country of which the person is a citizen. The tuition fee is also not applicable to persons who have a permanent residence permit in Finland based on the Aliens Act (301/2004).  Section 26 b, which was appended to legislation 564/2009, shall be in force temporarily for the period 1.1.2010-31.12.2014.
 

Appeal

In case the applicant finds that the selection has not been made according to the criteria, he/she should first contact the Admissions Office of HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences.

Appeal can be made, if the applicant can prove satisfactorily that an error was made by the authority in the polytechnic/university of applied sciences in evaluation of the applicant according to the rules and regulations of the admission process.

Appeal based on personal circumstances (difficult life situation, misunderstanding, health reasons, incapability to participate in the entrance examination) or, for example, possible errors made by post offices and so on will not be considered as valid reasons for appeal. Student admission decision can be changed only in those cases where it is clearly shown that the polytechnic/UAS has not followed the student admission criteria. Therefore, the appeal must be well-grounded and it should contain accurate information on where the polytechnic/UAS has not followed the criteria.

Applicants not satisfied with the decision may appeal in writing to the address below within 14 days of receiving the notification of the decision. The period allowed for the delivery of the notification letter is 7 days from the posting of the letter. The notification date of the decision is not included in the 14-day appeal period. The polytechnic/UAS is not responsible of possible delays in postal delivery and therefore, the above mentioned time frame applies even if the post is not received within the mentioned time frame. The appeal should be sent to the Admissions Office. During the previous application processes the following are examples of reasons for appeal which have not changed the decision made on selection: the certificate of language skills is missing, late arrival of any certificates, or deadlines have not been followed.

The appeal must be made in writing and it must contain:

• applicant’s name, occupation, municipality of residence, postal address and daytime phone number
• the original or a certified copy of the eligibility decision and the date the decision was received
• what is appealed against and the changes required
• grounded reasons for the appeal
• signature of the appellant or the writer (if only the writer has signed the appeal, it has to include writer’s occupation, municipality of residence and postal address).

Further information

For further information please contact:

HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences
Admissions office
Degree Programme in Communication Management
Ratapihantie 13
00520 Helsinki
Finland

Fax +358 9 147 063

e-mail: admissions(at)haaga-helia.fi

or

Ms. Salla Huttunen, PhD, Head of DP in Communication Management 
salla.huttunen(at)haaga-helia.fi
+358404887333