Based on the preliminary information, 2771 applications were submitted for VAMK in the joint application in January, which means an increase of 140 per cent compared to last year's number. Furthermore, the number of primary applicants rose considerably in all three degree programmes available in the offering – in total, 485 applicants had chosen VAMK as their primary option. The number of primary applicants increased by 66%. A significant proportion of first-time applicants were new entrants, accounting for about 77 per cent of all applicants.
"In the total number of applicants, we have clearly exceeded last year's applicant numbers in all our application options and also in terms of the number of primary applicants – we are very pleased with the result," says Juha Vierola, Head of Student Services.
Emphasis on attracting tuition-fee paying students
The emphasis on VAMK's marketing is in attracting more tuition-fee paying students from target countries. Supporting Talent Boost is a very important part of the recruitment strategy - VAMK's aim is to recruit prospective students willing to study, live and stay as future workforce in Finland.
President, CEO Kati Komulainen emphasises that VAMK wants to support the immigration of international talents: "In the future, the goal is that an increasing proportion of our students find employment in Ostrobothnia. The international student recruitment is one of our concrete actions to address the shortage of talents in the region."
"We have made significant new agent partnerships in Indian market as well as in Vietnam and Thailand. Our partners have Finland as their primary market and many of them have a representative also in Finland with a thorough knowledge of Finnish society and its higher education system as well as the latest insights and knowhow of the target country's market. We value highly that our partners have a strong connection to Finland and take carefully into account that our understanding of the business ethics is shared by our partners," comments Sirpa Rutanen, Head of Communications & Marketing.
The biggest number of tuition-fee paying applicants come from countries like Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, but also the prospective students i.e. from United Arab Emirates and Morocco have found VAMK's degree programme offering. In general, the applicants represented a great variety of different nationalities.
International Business attracted the most interest
The degree programme in International Business attracted the most interest, with a total of 1559 people applying. The highest number of priority applications was also in International Business Management for which about 30% of applicants had made a primary application.
A total of 100 places were offered for the three international degrees in the January joint application. The next phase of the application process is the entrance examination. In Bachelor degrees, a new digital international UAS exam will be used. The selection process for the MBA will continue with a remote interview in March. The results of the joint application will be published latest by 3.6.2022.