The higher education system formed by universities and universities of applied sciences must be strengthened so that it will produce diverse competence with different profiles for the needs of working life in society and the Finnish regions. More than 50 per cent of the board seats at universities of applied sciences must represent knowledge of the labour market and business life.

The degree structures of universities of applied sciences and universities must be kept distinctive in terms of their scope and content. The master’s degree must still be the principal degree programme for universities. The position of higher education degrees at universities of applied sciences must be strengthened, and the titles of the higher education degrees must be clarified.

Regional and interregional cooperation in the provision and accessibility of education must be increased instead of decentralising the higher education network.

The funding of the activities of universities and universities of applied sciences must correspond to the tasks assigned to them by society. The focus must be turned back to basic activities, which requires funding to be directed towards degree programmes. The financing of continuous learning must be resolved in the way of separate budget funding, not as part of the basic funding. 

An overall assessment of the effectiveness of vocational higher education must be made, on the basis of which development guidelines are to be drawn up to strengthen operational conditions. 

In higher education institutions, gaining educational merits must be made systematic and research leave or working life periods in teaching-oriented tasks must be enabled. The number of teaching staff at higher education institutions should be increased to meet the need for expanding higher education. Pedagogical qualifications must be recorded in legislation and required in all activities.

The development of different learning environments must continue in order to meet the needs of diverse groups of students.

RDI funding must encourage network-like cooperation and support the regions in building this cooperation. Financing mechanisms must be created for RDI activities in vocational higher education.

In funding, the different needs and impacts of basic research and RDI activities should be understood. With regard to basic research, the research appropriations of the Academy of Finland must be increased. In addition, Business Finland’s funding bases must be developed to support collaborative RDI activities. Companies must be incentivised to increase their RDI efforts, such as by creating an RDI voucher model that would enable experimentation and subsequent further development. The service providers would be public RDI organisations.

Business grants should be targeted at RDI activities carried out in cooperation between universities, research institutes and companies as well as at creating new markets and strengthening competence.

The versatile mobility of skilled workers must be supported. This will work to strengthen the welfare state and create sustainable growth. The practices related to International students’ entry into Finland must be further streamlined.

In developing the operations of higher education institutions, the diverse effects of internationalisation must be taken into account. Higher education institutions must be supported in their responsibility for integrating and employing students in Finland. The goal of increasing the number of international students is an ambitious one, and sufficient resources are needed to achieve it.