Graduation and working life

Our goal is that by graduation the student will find a job in their field. After the Bachelor’s degree, it is also possible to continue studies.

Towards working life

Students are encouraged to network with the working life from the start of their studies. By the end of their studies, students will have an idea of the skill requirements and career opportunities in their field. Practical training periods and thesis have supported the student’s journey towards working life. The identification of the student’s own competencies has been supported through the coursework and PSP discussions. The job search process is supported through various career and recruitment events.

Career and work-life services

During their studies, students are supported on their way to working life by career and work-life services. Career and work-life services are a place for students to pause and reflect on their dreams, goals and skills, and the direction they want to take on their career path. They also provide concrete guidance and advice on job searching.

Read more

Applying for the degree certificate and graduation

Starting the graduation process

• You can start the graduation process in Valo Graduation Service when you have returned your last assignments for evaluation (e.g. thesis, the last course assignments).
• Note, that for the evaluation you should allow sufficient time, this should be about a month. You can count your final graduation date by adding 5-6 weeks to the date you returned your last assignments and started your graduation process in Valo Graduation Service.
• While waiting for your last evaluations, you can tick off the tasks of your checklist on your graduation application and also request a preferred graduation date.

Applying for your certificate in VALO Graduation Service

• Log on to Peppi and select VALO Graduation Service.
• Respond to the UAS student feedback survey (AVOP). You must finish responding to the survey without interruption. When you have completed the survey, wait to be redirected to VALO service.
• If necessary, arrange a meeting with the study counsellor (graduation) whose name was saved to the application for a review of your personal study plan and the situation of your studies.
• Follow the checklist for certificate applications and tick off the tasks on the list as you complete them. You must ensure that your PSP (Personal study plan) has been reviewed, that all of your study attainments have been saved to Peppi, and that all other tasks on the checklist have been completed. You can acknowledge tasks as having been completed one by one.
• When your study counsellor has granted you permission to submit your application and you have acknowledged all the tasks on the checklist as having been completed, submit your certificate application for approval.
• Wait for acknowledgement of approval and confirmation of your graduation date from the Student Services.

Graduation date

• You can request a preferred graduation date in your application.
• Your final graduation date will be 2 to 3 weeks from the date on which the certificate application was sent for approval.
• The graduation dates during the academic year are the Fridays of each week between 1 August and 30 June. You cannot graduate in July.

Certificate

• From Autumn 2022 on, certificates will be issued electronically. You must download your degree certificate from Peppi within 14 days of your graduation date.
• An electronic certificate is an official document that does not need to be authenticated separately. You can send the certificate as an attachment file to authorities or employers. You can print out your certificate, but only the electronic version is an official degree certificate.  You should save several copies of the electronic certificate to different locations as soon as you have downloaded it. Please note: You must download your certificate within 14 days of your graduation date.
• The electronic signature of the certificate is based on an authentication issued by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and cannot be copied. This authentication is the strongest available and is accepted throughout the EU. Employers and other recipients of the certificate can check the authenticity of the certificate on the validation page of Centria University of Applied Sciences or on the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
• A student who has completed a degree programme taught through Finnish will receive their degree certificate in Finnish and Certificate Appendix in Finnish and in English.
• A student who has completed a degree programme taught through English will receive their degree certificate both in Finnish and English. Certificate Appendix is in English.
• In addition, all graduates will receive a Diploma Supplement, which is an English attachment to the degree certificate intended for international use. The purpose of the Diploma Supplement is to promote the international comparability of degrees and to facilitate studies and job searches abroad after graduation.

Instructions

• Please read the more detailed instructions that you can find in the learning environment (Digistart > Peppi > VALO Graduation Service -> VALO Graduation Service instructions for student)

Further information: opiskelijapalvelut@centria.fi

Open university studies for free

• As a gift for graduation, Centria offers a possibility to study open university studies 10 cr with no charge. 
• The offer can be used within two years after the graduation.
• Read more about Open university studies here or ask more at avoinamk@centria.fi. NB! The offer doesn’t concern the study paths in bachelor-level degree programs.

Remember also these things

• Your Centria email account will close 14 days after your graduation, so make sure to save all needed emails and attachments. Also, save the files you want.
• You can receive KELA’s student financial aid for the ending month of your studies if the month includes at least 18 days of active study.

Services for graduates and resigned students

Students who have graduated or resigned can order documents related to their studies for a fee from student services.

Read more and see tariff

Become an alumnus

As a Centria alumnus, you are part of a network of experts from Centria. As alumnus, you can participate in the development of our education in various ways, for example:

• by mentoring students in your field
• by offering thesis topics or internships for students
• as a lecturer telling Centria students about your work and organisation
• by participating in events organised by Centria

Diploma Supplement

All graduated students receive a Diploma Supplement, which describes the completed degree and the Finnish education system. The Diploma Supplement improves the international comparison of certificates. The Diploma Supplement also includes an English language Transcript of Records, which shows the completed courses and grades. 

Valvira license for graduating nurses

Graduating nurses have to apply for a license to practice the health care profession in Finland 

• Licensing is granted, upon application, by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira).
• More information about the application and fees can be found here and here.
• Graduating students can apply for licensing after their official graduation day, since Valvira receives the information on the graduation electronically from the VIRTA Publication Information Service.  

Trade unions

Trade unions are labour movement-based organisations and they aim to improve the employment terms and conditions of employees. Trade unions do collective bargaining with employers to reach collective labour agreements. 

Students can even join a trade union during their studies. For more information, please contact the union in question. 

Career and recruitment service Centria Jobi

Centria Jobi is a meeting place for students and working life where employers can inform students about open positions, practical training places, thesis topics, project jobs and events. It serves graduates as well and is an excellent place to browse job vacancies.

Read more about Centria Jobi

Further studies

Master’s studies in Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS)

Through Master’s studies in a University of Applied Sciences, you can deepen your professional knowledge and skills after gaining experience in working life. You will learn to find and process research information on your field of study and apply it in practice at work. With a Master’s degree, you will be able to work, for example, in development and expert duties in working life.

A Master’s degree taken in a University of Applied Sciences gives you equal eligibility for public posts as a Master’s degree earned from a university. 

To be eligible to apply for Master’s studies in UAS,

• You must have a suitable Bachelor’s degree or other higher education degree.
• In addition, you must have worked in the field in question for at least two years after completing your Bachelor’s degree. The field in question can refer to the field of study of your planned Master’s studies or the field of study of your previous Bachelor’s degree. It is up to the UAS to decide whether they accept the work experience gained after lower-level studies (any field of studies), but before the higher education degree. However, in this case, you must also have at least two years’ work experience in the field in question. 

Master’s studies in a UAS include

• field-specific advanced studies
• elective studies
• thesis

The scope of Master’s studies is 60 or 90 ECTS, and completing the studies takes 1.5-3 years alongside work. Studying takes place as blended learning, which in practice means classroom meetings, online studies, and independent study. 

An essential part of studying is the thesis which is a development task with working life connections. You can decide the topic to support the development needs of your work.

Centria Master School

Centria Master School offers Master’s degree in two study fields: business and IT. The Master’s degree programmes are:

• Master of Business Administration, International Business Management
• Master of Engineering, Information Technology, Cloud-based Software Engineering

In the annual survey for graduating students in Finland, our Master’s students have assessed their education as the best amongst universities of applied sciences in Finland for several years in a row.

Master’s degree in universities

After completing a Bachelor’s degree, you can continue your studies on a Master’s level. A university Master’s degree can be completed in about 2 years of full-time studies. Master’s studies are usually multidisciplinary, i.e., based on cooperation between different fields of study within the university but also with other universities. You can apply to Master’s studies either through a joint application or through a separate application. 

You are eligible to apply for Master’s studies if you have:

• a Bachelor’s degree, either in a university or in a university of applied sciences
• a vocational college degree
• other completed studies in a university

For more information, please click here.