The establishment of Polytechnic institutions since 1992 has created a new education sector in Finland. As one of the most important educational reforms of the 1990's, the Polytechnics expand access to higher education by offering a more practically oriented option than the traditional universities. The Polytechnic Degree Programmes are specifically designed to give a response to the demands and development needs of the work place.
The Polytechnics offer university-level Degrees equivalent to Bachelor of Arts (Hon) or Bachelor of Science (Hon) Degrees in the UK and the US, the French Licence, the German Diplom Fachhochschule and the Dutch HBO Diploma.
Each Degree Programme consists of 140 credits (210 ECTS) and takes 3-4 years to complete. For some fields of study the number of credits is 160 (240 ECTS), such as Studies in Natural Resources. Each credit is equivalent of 40 hours of work.
The Polytechnic Degrees combine theory, practice and individual experience and qualify the graduates for planning, expert and managerial posts as well as for other professional tasks requiring a high standard of expertise.
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