Academic year, enrolment and study right

Degree students must enrol as a present (attending) or absent (non-attending) for each study year. The duty to enrol applies to all students studying in degree programmes leading to a bachelor’s or a master’s degree.

Academic year 2026/27

Autumn semester 24.8.–18.12.2026

• Orientation for new students 1.–2.9.2026
• Continuing students start 3.9.2026

Opening Ceremony for the Academic Year on Wednesday 2.9.2026 in the afternoon

Christmas Celebration on Friday 18.12.2026

Spring semester 7.1.–4.6.2027

• Continuing students start 7.1.2027

Closing Ceremony of the Academic Year on Friday 4.6.2027

Enrolment

Degree students must enrol as present (attending) or absent (non-attending) for each study year. The duty to enrol applies to all students studying in degree programmes leading to a bachelor’s or a master’s degree.  

Only students who are enrolled as present students have the right to pursue studies, to have credits entered in the record of credits and to receive guidance related to studies. 

Tuition fee paying students: Please note, if you have been exempted from paying the tuition fee and do not enroll for the study year and then apply for readmission, your tuition fee liability will be reconsidered based on the new law. That means, if you now have been exempted from paying the tuition fees, you might become a tuition fee paying student.

Continuing students

• The enrolment period for the whole study year is from 1 April until 31 July. 
• Continuing students must enrol as present or absent for the following study year on Peppi.  
• Tuition fee-paying students do not enrol on Peppi for the following study year, but rather, they must first pay the first instalment of the tuition fee for the following study year. This payment is a part of the enrolment process. Once the payment is received by Centria, the student is added to Peppi as a present student for the following study year. This will be done by the Student Services. Detailed instructions (including payment schedule) will be sent separately.
• If the student enrols as absent for statutory reasons, they must submit the appropriate documentation via Peppi (E-application) by 31 August for autumn term and by 15 January for spring term. 
• Changes to the enrolment for the spring term can be done via Peppi between 1 December and 15 January.
• Students can change their enrollment from absent to present in the middle of a semester for a specific reason. Student has to contact Student services (studentservices@centria.fi) to make the change. The enrollment cannot be changed retroactively.

Students on an extended study time do not enroll for the study year in Peppi. Registration for the remaining study time has been done by the Student Services (based on the decision of the application for extended study right). The student does not have the right for statutory absence included in regular completion time and cannot enroll as absent.

Absent students cannot participate in studies or earn credits. Absence will affect the financial aid for student. Students continuing their studies after their absence should note the possible changes in their curricula.

If any issues occur with enrolment, please contact Student services (studentservices@centria.fi).

Enrolling as an absent student (continuing students)

Students who started their studies before 1 August 2015

• A student can enrol as an absent student for a maximum of two academic years (i.e. four academic terms). 
• Enrolling as an absent student does not affect the regular study time. No specific reason is required to be able to enrol as an absent student.  

Students who started their studies after 1 August 2015

• A student can enrol as an absent student for a maximum of one academic year (two academic terms) without a specific reason.  Enrolling as an absent student does not affect the regular study time. 
• A student can also enrol as an absent student for predetermined statutory reasons. Absence with statutory reasons does not affect the regular study time or consume the absent semesters (two terms without a specific reason). NB! Registering as absent for the first academic year due to an illness or injury as statutory reason consumes new student’s absent semesters.
• A student enrolling as an absent student with statutory reason must provide valid and adequate documentation showing the reason(s) for the absence. The documents must be submitted via Peppi (E-application) by the due dates: for autumn term by 31 August and spring term by 15 January.
• If the legal grounds for your absence are valid during only one semester, it’s possible for you to register as absent for the whole study year. You may also change the status of your registration for the spring term from present to absent during the spring term registration period 1 December – 15 January in Peppi.

New students can enrol as absent for their first academic year based solely on statutory reasons. For further information, please contact Student Services studentservices@centria.fi.  

Contact Student Services

• Always when enrolling as an absent student.
• Always if there are problems in enrolment.

The study right and the study right period

Target completion time is based on the scope of the degree.

• The target duration for a bachelor’s degree is 3,5 years (210 credits) or 4 years (240 credits). The curriculums are planned so that a full-time student can achieve 60 credits per study year. 
• The target duration for a master’s degree is 3 years (90 credits, part-time studies) or 1,5 years (90 credits, full-time studies) or 1 year (60 credits, full-time studies). 

The study right period includes the target completion time of the degree plus one extra year. If the student does not complete the studies in the target time, the student has the right to continue the studies for one year without submitting an application.

Applying for readmission when study right is lost

If the student does not enrol for the study year, the student loses the study right. This means that

• the student does not have the right to complete studies nor receive study grants, and the student does not qualify for subsidized meals nor student discounts
• the study right terminates on 31 July and after 14 days the student will not have access to the UAS email or other online services.

A student who has lost their study right can apply for readmission. The study right can be restored, if

• the student has study time left 
• the student did not resign their study right themselves  
• the student has not transferred their study right elsewhere by transfer application 
• the student has not accepted a new study place in a higher education institution and thus ended their previous same or lower-level study right in Centria (according to the regulation concerning a single study right after 1.8.2026). 

The semesters that the student has neglected to enroll for consume their terms of non-attendance and attendance. Semesters between the study right end date and the study right restoration date are covered with non-attending terms if the student is still eligible for absence. When the maximum amount of non-attendance terms has been used, remaining semesters are counted as attending, which reduces the remaining study time and attendance terms.

The study right will be restored on the beginning of the following month after the decision (at the latest). The on-going term, including the time before the restoration, will be considered completely used of the study right duration.

Application for readmission is done by electronic form. 50 Euros will be charged for processing the application (Government Decree 1440/2014). The options for payment of the application processing fee (50 Euros) are the following: Finnish online banking credentials, VISA, MasterCard or MobilePay. Application submission and payment are done at the same time with submitting the form (you will be forwarded to the payment). The processing fee is non-refundable, even if the application is not accepted or the application is unnecessary. Please do not pay the processing fee via Flywire. Follow the instructions on the application.

If you are a tuition fee -paying student you will need to pay both the tuition fee and the processing fee before your readmission application can be processed. Payment instructions can be found on the readmission application.

Please note, if you have been exempted from paying the tuition fee and do not enroll for the study year and then apply for readmission, your tuition fee liability will be reconsidered based on the new law. That means, if you now have been exempted from paying the tuition fees, you might become a tuition fee paying student.

If you cannot use Suomi.fi e-Identification (if you do not have Finnish online banking credentials), you can use the following options for payment and use the link for electronic form below.

• Bank transfer to Centria UAS bank account (IBAN: FI92 5162 0020 2748 85). Use your surname and the name of your degree programme as reference.
• Card payment at the library on Talonpojankatu Campus. Give your name and the name of your degree programme when making the payment.

The receipt of payment is attached to the application. The application and the attachment of payment are submitted at once so please have the attachment ready before filling in the application.

Extension of the study right

If a student does not complete their degree within the study right period (the target completion time of the degree plus one additional year), they can apply for extension. The application must be submitted before the study right ends and within the application period. The granting of an extension is discretionary. 
 
The prerequisite for granting additional time is that the student applies for extension and prepares and submits a goal-oriented and feasible (possible to implement) study plan that enables student to complete their studies during the extension period (within a maximum of one year).  Instructions for applying for an extension can be found below.
 
Extension of study right is granted for a maximum of two semesters. If the extension of study has been granted before, it is possible to apply for an extension of two additional semester for special reasons. Centria will consider the special reasons for the need of extension (e.g., student exchange, systematic preparation for top-level sport, serious illness, substantial difficult life circumstances). In these cases, the minimum requirement for granting an extension is that the student has used the first extension purposefully according to the study plan and is able to graduate within the extension period. Employment is not considered a special reason for granting an extension. Decisions on applications are sent to the student’s Centria email address.

A renewed right to study may be extended by a maximum of one semester upon application by the student for a justified reason

Application periods

• 1.10.-15.11 (study right ends on the autumn term)
• 1.4.–15.5. (study right ends on the spring term)

The E-application form is on the student register Peppi (student’s desktop). Suomi.fi e-Identification is used to log into the form. This requires strong identification (e.g. Finnish online banking credentials, mobile certificate etc.). If you are not able to use strong identification (you do not have Finnish online banking credentials, mobile certificate etc.) please, contact the Student Services (studentservices@centria.fi). 

In accordance with government Decree 1440/2014, a fee of €50 is charged for processing the application. The options for payment of the application processing fee (50 Euros) are the following: Finnish online banking credentials, VISA, MasterCard or MobilePay. Application submission and payment are done at the same time with submitting the form (you will be forwarded to the payment). The processing fee is non-refundable, even if the application is not accepted or the application is unnecessary. Please check your study right ending date from Peppi before filling in the application.

If the student is liable to pay tuition fees, they are required to pay the tuition fee if the study right extension is granted. Payment instructions will be sent by email after the decision has been made.

The study entitlement of students who have not been granted an extension will be declared as expired and the student will be registered as resigned.

Completing an incomplete degree

If you have previously studied at Centria UAS but did not complete your degree, the study right has ended, and there is no study right time left, you can apply to finish your incomplete degree in the same or related degree programme. Further information about applying with an incomplete degree here.