Rankings: The 9 best universities in Finland for 2020/2021

Finland is known as one of Europe’s most modern, most innovative countries, and with its world-renowned education system, it has become a popular destination for international students in recent years. Many Finnish universities enjoy a pristine academic reputation. First and foremost is the University of Helsinki, the country’s oldest and largest university, closely followed by Aalto University, which is also located in Helsinki.

Like many other European countries, Finland distinguishes between traditional research-driven universities and what is called “Universities of Applied Sciences” (UAS), or polytechnics. These institutions offer high-quality, practice-oriented education and thus focus less on classical academic research. Because university rankings are often research-biased, these fine schools tend to be excluded, even though they offer great opportunities for international students - especially at the Bachelor’s level. So be sure to include them in your research when looking for a degree in Finland.

Top ranked universities in Finland

University	QS Ranking 2020	THE Ranking 2020	ARWU Ranking 2019
University of Helsinki	107	96	63
Aalto University	134	184	301
University of Turku	287	351	301
University of Jyväskylä	346	501	501
University of Oulu	374	251	301
Lappeenranta University of Technology	491	501	901
University of Eastern Finland	498	401	401
Åbo Akademi University	541	601	–
University of Tampere	–	–	501

Explained: How do the university rankings work?

The QS World University Rankings are among the most important, most-referenced rankings. The QS ranking relies heavily on its academic survey, asking thousands of academics worldwide about the reputation of universities.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (or the THE Rankings for short) compile a wide range of statistics. Equal weight is put on teaching quality, research excellence, and research impact through citations (meaning how often a university’s research is referenced elsewhere).

The Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (often just Shanghai Ranking, or ARWU) focuses on research output and quality, for example measured by the number of published and cited scientific papers and the number of staff or alumni winning the Nobel Prize or Fields Medal.

Study in Finland

Finland is a great place to study abroad: The small Northern European nation is home to some world-class universities that offer high-quality teaching, you get to enjoy a remarkable quality of life in a safe environment, the locals are welcoming - and everyone speaks English. Better yet: Students from Europe study for free at Finnish universities.