On this page you can find information on applying for an extension to your right to study. You can find further information on the grounds for granting an extension to the right to study as well as the duration of the extension in the Academic Rector’s decision Normative duration of studies and extension to the right to study located at the bottom of this page. Please read the decision before you apply for an extension.
Applying for an extension to the right to study
Apply for an extension to your right to study when your right to study is about to expire.
If your right to study is about to end on 31 July, apply for the extension by 31 May. If your right to study is about to end on 31 December, apply for the extension by 31 October. This is so that the faculty has time to make a decision on the application before the study right ends. This ensures that there will be no gap in your right to study, and your UEF user account will stay in use.
Only apply for the extension to your right to study when you truly have the ability and intention to study and complete your degree. In some situations it is not necessary to apply for the extension to your right to study when it is about to expire. If you apply for the extension after your right to study has already expired or the extension is granted to you after the registration period has already ended, you must also apply for your study right to be reinstated.
Applying for an extension to the right to study is subject to a fee, and the fee is 50 euros (VNA 1082/2009 4.1 §). The handling fee is collected for applications arriving on 1 January 2025 or thereafter. Paying the fee is a prerequisite for handling the application and making a decision on the application. The fee applies to applications relating to rights to study leading to a degree (bachelor’s, master’s, licentiate of medicine, licentiate of dentistry). The fee does not apply to other applications for an extension to a right to study (e.g., specialist training, separate teacher training competency studies). When collecting the fee, for students who have a right to study to both a first-cycle degree and a second-cycle degree, the combination of the two degree rights to study are viewed as one. If a student applies to have their right to study reinstated at the same time as they apply for an extension to their right to study, only one handling fee will be collected (50 euros). If you apply for an extension to your right to study on 1 January 2025 or thereafter, pay the fee (50 euros) through the payment service (opens in a new tab), and attach the receipt you receive from the payment service by email to the application.
Apply for the extension to your right to study with an electronic application form in the UEF E-services (opens in a new tab) (requires logging in with a UEF user account). The application is transferred electronically to the faculty officer who, after having prepared the application, forwards it to the Dean who makes the decision on granting the extension. You can keep track of the progress of your application in the tracking service (opens in a new tab) (requires logging in with a UEF user account). You can receive the decision by email. The completed decisions are archived electronically.
If you are unable to log into the E-services (for example, your study right has already ended and your UEF user account does not work), print out the form Extension to the study right from Kamu’s forms page. Download and fill out the form and return it to the person who handles extension applications in your faculty (listed below) either by mail or as an email attachment.
You can also apply for an extension to your right to study with a mobile device or outside the university campus.
Appendices
Attach to your application:
- Updated, scheduled and approved Personal Study Plan (PSP). The PSP must aim at completing the degree, be approved by the study coordinator and clearly indicate the courses to be completed and the intended schedule for completing them, i.e., what semester will the studies be completed.
- A short statement from the thesis supervisor on the topic and progress of the thesis, how much work remains and the estimated time of completing the thesis, provided that the student has started working on the thesis.
- An explanation on the reasons that have delayed the study progress (write these on the form). If necessary, you may attach a separate document. NOTE! Do not attach medical certificates as appendices. We will ask for them separately, if needed.
- If you have been granted an extension before, an account of your study progress with the previous extension.
- A receipt you receive from the payment service for the paid application handling fee. The application will not be handled without the receipt.
Reinstating study right after granting an extension
If your right to study has already expired before you are granted an extension, you must also apply for having your study right reinstated. Apply for an extension to your right to study first and for reinstating your study right only after you have been granted the extension. A handling fee will be collected when reinstating the study right. From 1 January 2025 onward, if the student applies to have their right to study reinstated and applies for an extension to the same right to study at the same time, they only need to pay the application handling fee (50 euros) once.
If your right to study was active during the semester preceding the extension, and you register for the coming semester within the registration period, you do not need to apply for reinstating your right to study. You do not need to apply for reinstating your study right, if, for example:
- your right to study expired on 31 July, you had registered for the study right as being present or absent for the spring semester, and after you receive an extension to your right to study, you register for the autumn semester by 15 September, or
- your right to study expired on 31 December, you had registered for the study right as being present or absent for the autumn semester, and after you receive an extension to your right to study, you register for the spring semester by 15 January.
Length of the extension
The extension will be granted in academic semesters. The extension will be granted for a minimum of one and a maximum of four academic semesters at a time. Should the approved graduation plan span more than four academic semesters, the extension will nevertheless be granted for a maximum of four academic semesters. The student will need to make a new extension application for the remaining semesters.
If the right to study has been extended, the duration of the right to study will continue to lapse even if the student registers as being absent. This includes statutory reasons for registering as being absent.
Guidance and support for studying
The university provides guidance and training to support your studies, e.g.:
The following people provide information on extending the right to study and handle the extension applications:
Philosophical Faculty
Riikka Myllys, Academic Affairs Specialist
Joensuu campus, Futura
Starting 1 March 2025 Satu Kouki, Head of Academic Affairs
Joensuu campus, Borealis
Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology
Pauliina Karvinen, Academic Affairs Specialist
Joensuu campus, Metria
Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies
Anne Korhonen, Academic Affairs Specialist
Joensuu campus, Aurora
Heli Kemppainen, Academic Affairs Specialist
Kuopio campus, Snellmania
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy
Päivi Hartikainen, Academic Affairs Specialist
Kuopio campus, Canthia
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Dentistry and Medicine
Timo Kemppainen, Head of Academic and Student Affairs
Kuopio campus, Medistudia
Faculty of Health Sciences, other programmes
Susanna Järvelin-Pasanen, Head of Academic Affairs
Kuopio campus, Medistudia
Contact information in UEF Connect.
Appeal
Appealing a decision concerning the forfeiture of the right to study is enacted under Section 82(2) of the Universities Act and Section 43 of the Education Regulations of the University of Eastern Finland.