Master's Degree Programme in Sustainability Leadership

Eligibility

 A previous Bachelor's degree corresponding to at least 3 years of full-time academic studies from an institution for higher education is required from all Master's degree applicants. The degree must be awarded by an internationally recognized university.   

Applicants with the following degrees and studies are eligible:  

• Bachelor’s degree 
• A 3- or 4-year, or equivalent, bachelor’s degree at an accredited university or an accredited university of applied sciences/polytechnic level is required. Also, the degree must give the right to apply for university-level master's studies in the country concerned. 
• The grade point average (GPA) of the degree used as the basis for the application must be at least 3.5/5 (on a 5-point scale). 
• Academic business studies 
• Either a minimum of 60 ECTS* in academic business studies, or a bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree in business studies is required. (* 1 ECTS = a workload of 27 hours (lectures, assignments etc.)) 
• Language, communication and research method studies, internships, work experience, and final thesis/exam/project are not included in the above-mentioned studies. However, one course in economics, one course in logistics, one course in mathematics, and one course in business law may be included in the above-mentioned studies. 
• If an applicant has several higher education degrees or separate studies in higher education that are not part of a degree, all these academic business studies can be considered when defining the applicant’s eligibility. 
• Research method studies
• In addition, a minimum of 5 ECTS or two courses (minimum total of 5 ECTS) of research methods studies is required.
• If the name of your methodological course is not directly 'Econometrics', ‘Statistics’, or 'Quantitative/Qualitative Research Methods,' you may attach a course description to ensure the relevant course is counted toward the required quantitative studies. If no course description is provided, the course suitability will be evaluated based on the course name provided in the transcript. 

Please note that all these three (3) requirements must be met for the applicant to be eligible to apply.  

You must apply to our programme with your Bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree, which will be used as the basis for the application. You must also submit all other higher educational documents that prove your eligibility to the programme, i.e., if your academic business studies are not included in your bachelor’s degree.  

Applicants selected to pursue the master’s degree may be required to take supplementary studies; this is defined on an individual basis and will be included in the study plan for the student.  

APPLICANTS WHO HAVE NOT YET GRADUATED OR HOLD A PROVISIONAL DEGREE  

If you have not completed your bachelor’s degree by the application deadline, you are still eligible to apply. In this case, you may be admitted to the master’s degree programme on the condition that you graduate and send an officially attested copy of the degree certificate to the University no later than 30 July 2026 15.00 (Helsinki time, GMT+3). If you do not submit the degree certificate to the University in time, this conditional admission will expire. Submit the latest official transcript which includes course names, the number of credits of each course, grading, beginning and end dates of the studies, and the scale of grading used for the GPA and course grading, otherwise the application will not be considered.  

Applicants holding a provisional degree certificate may also apply for the programme. That is, the degree must be verifiably completed and the required documents for the completion of this degree must be submitted. 

APPLICANTS WHO ARE NOT ELIGIBLE  

Applicants with a Finnish higher university degree in business administration Master of Science in the field of Economics and Business Administration or equivalent are not eligible. This applies also to those applicants who will graduate with a Master of Science in the field of Economics and Business Administration before the right to study begins.   

In addition, applicants who have completed a higher university degree leading to a higher university degree that does not include a lower university degree (e.g., a Finnish master's degree completed before the two-tier degree system) may be selected to complete a master’s degree.  

Language requirements   

Applicants must either (1) meet the language proficiency criteria (see below), or (2) reach the minimum required language test results to be considered eligible to the University of Eastern Finland. No exceptions will be made and no waivers regarding the language proficiency requirements are given.

(1) Applicants who hold one of the following do not have to take an English language test   

• 1. a) A language test is not required if the applicant has completed Finnish Matriculation Examination, English language (A-language, advanced syllabus) with a minimum grade of magna cum laude approbatur (M)    
   
• 1. b) A language test is not required if the applicant has completed their secondary education in English language in EU/EEA -countries, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand or in Switzerland. The applicants from EU/ETA -countries and Switzerland must prove the language of instruction. The medium of instruction must be clearly stated in the educational documents. If your documents do not explicitly mention English as the medium of instruction, you must provide an additional official statement issued by a representative of your educational institution confirming this.                                                                                                                                                                      
• 1. c) A language test is not required if the applicant has completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or higher degree in an English-taught programme in EU/EEA -countries, or in one of the following countries:  
  Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Dominica, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South-Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.  

The applicants from these countries must prove the language of instruction. The medium of instruction must be clearly stated in the educational documents. If your documents do not explicitly mention English as the medium of instruction, you must provide an additional official statement issued by a representative of your educational institution confirming this.  

• 1. d) A language test is not required if the applicant has completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or higher degree in an English-taught programme in Australia, Canada, Ghana, Ireland, New Zealand, Nigeria, the United Kingdom or the United States. The applicants prove their language skills with a university degree.  

The degree/programme must be taught and assessed in English (at least 50 % of the degree must be completed in English). If you verify your language skills with your education degree, the language of instruction must be clearly indicated in the educational documents.  

Online studies or studies completed on offshore campuses outside the accepted countries/area cannot be used to indicate language skills, even if the degree-awarding institution is in one of the accepted countries.  

(2) All other applicants have to take one of the following language tests  

• TOEFL iBT, overall score 92, min. 22 in writing  
• IELTS (academic) overall score 6.5, min. 6.0 in writing 
• PTE (academic), overall score 62, min 54 in writing 
• C1 Advanced overall score C or 180, with min. 162 in writing  
• C2 Proficiency overall score level C1 or 180, with min. 162 in writing 
• National Certificate of Language Proficiency YKI-test: level 5 in all different subtests (reading comprehension, writing, speaking comprehension and speaking). It is possible to combine different examinations.   

Kindly note that the University of Eastern Finland also accepts the following tests:  

• IELTS Academic online and UKVI tests, IELTS One Skill Retake test results. 
• PTE Academic online and UKVI tests 
• TOEFL iBT Home Edition tests, MyBest Scores   

No other degrees or statements of language proficiency will be accepted.  

TOEFL, IELTS and PTE certificates are valid for two years from the day they are issued, i.e. the language test needs to be in effect during the application period, from 7 January 2024 onwards.  

The language test results must be verifiable from the online verification service of the organiser.   

In the 2026 joint-admission, a maximum of 20 students will be selected into the programme. If you are admitted to the programme, you will gain the right to complete a Master of Science degree in Sustainability Leadership.   

In Studyinfo.fi, the applicant may apply to a maximum of two application options offered by the UEF Business School. Applications are assessed based on the information available to the applications after the application and completion period. No further information is requested, and incomplete applications are rejected.  
   
Delimitation of granting right to study   

According to One study place per term provision, a student may accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland during one academic term. This rule applies to all higher education.  

Applicants cannot be granted a new right to study resulting in a Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) degree in Sustainability Leadership (major) if they already have a valid right to study in the degree programme resulting in a Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) degree in Sustainability Leadership (major) at the University of Eastern Finland.

Supporting documents to be enclosed along with the application

The required enclosures need to be uploaded electronically to the application by 28 January 2026 at 15.00 (EET) at the latest. UEF does not process application documents that have arrived after the given deadline. All enclosures are compulsory for the selection process, and if an applicant fails to attach the required documents, their application will be rejected.   

• Bachelor’s degree certificate, and if necessary, an English translation provided by an authorised translator. You are also required to submit educational documents for other degrees that you use to demonstrate your eligibility, e.g., language proficiency or business studies. 
• Original (or officially certified copy of) transcript of academic record, and if necessary, an English translation provided by an authorised translator. The transcript must include the course names, the number of credits of each course, grading, beginning and end dates of the studies, and the scale of grading used for the GPA and course grading, otherwise the application will not be considered. Note also, that the grade point average must either be given in the degree certificate, transcript of records or a separate, certified calculation.  
• English language test certificate (if needed) 
• A copy of a passport/other document of identification (not required from Finnish applicants) 
• A 2-minute video, sharing your motivations for studying at UEF. Please answer all 2 of the following questions in the video: 
  • 1) How do your abilities help you to succeed in your studies at UEF Business School?
  • 2) What are your motivations when applying to UEF?  

This video is an introduction video of the applicant. The maximum duration is 2 minutes, within which the applicant must answer all the above questions. Please note that if you are applying to two Business School programmes, only record one video. The video must have both sound and video to be considered. Please send the Studyinfo application before you submit the motivation video. You have until 28 January 2026 at 15.00 (EET) (Helsinki time, GMT+3) to record the video.

Selection results 

Results from the 1. joint admission round for studies starting in September 2026 will be published by 27 May 2026 at the latest. Once the selection decision has been made, the results will be emailed to the applicants immediately.  

Admitted students shall inform whether they accept their study place by latest on 9 July 2026 at 3 pm (EEST) electronically via Studyinfo portal or by submitting the confirmation form to the admission office, [email protected].  

Conditional acceptance  

Your admission is conditional if you apply to UEF with a degree that is not finished during the application period. It is required that the applicants deliver officially certified copies of the final degree certificate and the transcript of records to the programme coordinator by 30 July 2026.   

All accepted students need to provide officially certified copies, if they cannot authenticate their degree/transcript electronically when applying. The students will be conditionally accepted until they have provided the certified copies of the educational documents (degree certificate and transcript of records). Country specific requirements are in use in the situations when the applicant cannot provide the documents electronically. The last date when the documents need to be at the university is 29 May 2026. In case the applicants do not deliver the documents by the given deadline, their study right will be cancelled.  

Appeal

If you disagree with the student selection decision you may apply for rectification of the decision from the Dean of the faculty. It is possible to make a request for rectification only after the admission results have been made and published. The deadline is 10 June 2026 at 15.00 (EEST) at the latest. The instructions for making a request for rectification can be found on Admissions results website.  

Applications that satisfy the eligibility criteria will be put through a subsequent evaluation process to determine, which applicants are selected for admission to the programme. The following selection process is made up of two (2) phases; in phase one (1) applicants are ranked according to their GPA and in phase two (2) the best scoring applicants will be ranked according to the points received for previous studies and motivation video. Further information on scoring detailed below.     

The top scoring 20 applicants will be admitted, and the rest of the applications will be rejected. The programme may accept more applicants to fill the available study places in the programme. There will be no waiting list. Applicants must receive selection points from both their previous studies and motivation video to be accepted. Selection points will not be calculated for applicants who do not receive points from both previous studies and motivation video.  

To be considered for admission, the applicant must receive a minimum of 10 selection points. The applicant may obtain a maximum of 20 selection points.   

Phase 1: Eligible applicants will be ranked based on their GPA   

In phase 1, eligible applicants are ranked based on the GPA they received in their bachelor’s degree.  

The GPA must either be given in the degree certificate, transcript of records, or a separate, certified calculation, otherwise the application will not be considered.  If the applicant’s GPA does not follow the ECTS grading system, it will be converted accordingly for the programme during the evaluation process.  

Phase 2: Suitability of the earlier studies for the master’s programme and the motivation video evaluation  

In the final phase (phase 2), the top ranked applicants based on their GPA, will have their motivational video and relevant studies scored, based on the description below.   

First, the motivation video is scored. The applicant can receive a maximum of 5 selection points from their motivation video. A 0 or 1 point is awarded for each question answered (maximum 2 points). A maximum of 3 points are awarded for communication skills. The video duration is maximum 2 minutes, only the first 2 minutes of the video will be scored. The video must contain functional video footage and audio.  

Finally, applicants are awarded selection points based on the amount of relevant previous studies (in ECTS) in the fields of Management and Organisation in Business Studies. In addition, one appropriate research methodology course will also be calculated into this section. These studies are scored as follows: 1 ECTS = 0,5 points (a maximum of 15 points). Internships, work experience, and final thesis/exam/project (or equivalent) are not included in the above-mentioned studies.  

If an applicant has several higher education degrees or separate studies in higher education that are not part of a degree, all of these can be considered when calculating the suitable studies, provided that the attachments proving these studies meet the University’s document requirements.  

The annual tuition fee for non-EU/EEA students is 10,000 EUR. There are no tuition fees for students who are citizens of EU/EEA countries or Switzerland. Non-EU/EEA applicants can apply for the tuition fee waivers when applying for admission to the university by filling out the relevant section on the application form. The decision about the waiver is made in connection with the student admission, and the applicant is notified of the matter in the letter of notification of the admission results. The waiver is personal, and it is awarded for two academic years. The waiver exempts the student from the tuition fee partially (50%). The UEF Scholarship is awarded to the student who ranks the highest in the selection process (the highest score) and who is liable to pay a tuition fee. 

All tuition fees, waivers, and scholarships for the 2026–2027 academic year are determined by the Vice Rector’s decision, and published on the official UEF website Tuition fees, waivers and scholarships. Additionally, degree students are required to pay the Student Union membership fee and the Kela student healthcare fee. Kindly note that there is an application fee.