Students

Upper Secondary Education
Vocational Education
University Studies
Student Guide
Toripolliisi ("The Bobby at The Market Place") is a popular meeting point at the Market Square.

Student in Oulu

The City of Oulu provides students with a wide range of fields to study, lots of opportunities for free time, affordable living and high-quality services.
Read more about living in Oulu (oulu.com)

Easy to come and go

Oulu, the city of over 200 000 residents and over 20 000 higher education students, provides you with all the big city benefits, whether you enjoy culture, activities, armchair sports or something in between.

Getting around Oulu is easy too: the city is known for its extensive cycle lane network. There is over 600 kilometers of cycle lane in Oulu, meaning three meters for each resident!

You can fly from Helsinki to Oulu in less than 50 minutes. The train and bus traffic is also frequent – transport connections to Oulu are extensive from everywhere in Finland.
Student in Oulu – check the facts and tips

The city of three universities

You can find more than 60 different fields of education in three different higher education institutions in Oulu: at the University of Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences in Linnanmaa and Kontinkangas and at Diaconia University of Applied Sciences at the city centre.

Various subject and interest societies ensure that students can enjoy life alongside their studies. Plenty of common events for all students are organized, but the societies also organize their own activities to make student life as enjoyable as possible.
Higher education institutions

Looking for these?

Lumo Light Festival
Oulu Event Calendar
Sport & Exercise
Oulu City Library

Affordable and high-quality living

Students in Oulu enjoy a significantly higher quality housing to a lower price than students in other cities of the same size.

PSOAS and Otokylä ry were created to ensure student housing in Oulu. PSOAS and Otokylä ry make sure that their students are left with more money to live with than students in other cities of the same size.

Living in Oulu is considerably affordable even on a general level – compared to Helsinki, in Oulu you can get double the amount of square meters with the same amount of money.
Read more about living options

Cultural sites

Oulu Museum of Art
Oulu Sinfonia
Oulu Theatre
Oulu Music Centre (in Finnish)
Cultural Centre Valve

University of Oulu

The University of Oulu is an international science university that creates new knowledge, well-being and innovations for the future through research and education. Flexible university education provides students with adaptability to meet the challenges of the changing world. University of Oulu enables multidisciplinary learning by combining different branches of study.
University of Oulu

Oulu University of Applied Sciences

Oulu University of Applied Sciences provides Bachelor and Master's degree studies, pedagogic studies at the School of Professional Teacher Education, professional specialisation and open university studies as well as supplementary training.
Oulu University of Applied Sciences

Diaconia University of Applied Sciences

Diaconia University of Applied Sciences (Diak) prepares students for national and international roles in social and pastoral work. The programmes cover the following fields: social work, health care, diaconal work and interpreting.
Diak Oulu Campus

Oulu is the European Capital of Culture 2026

Culture, art and a wide range of events as well as world-class experiences from near and far are taking over our northern region. See the programme (oulu2026.eu).
Oulu – European Capital of Culture (Oulu2026.eu)

Did you know

217 556
Population, December 31, 2025
3 818
Oulu’s area (km²)
40,1
Average age of citizens

Events