The scholarship is part of the admission application
There is no separate scholarship form. The rules are on Aalto’s scholarships and tuition fees page, and the application itself is on its master’s application page. Aalto says that if you are a non-EU/EEA citizen liable to tuition fees, the scholarship application is part of the application form for admission, where you are offered an option to apply or not apply. If you do not apply during the application period there is no later route: Aalto states that you cannot apply for a scholarship after the application period. Its FAQ adds that these tuition fee waivers cannot be applied for in the middle of studies. Answer the question when you submit.
Dates for the 2027 master’s intake
Aalto’s master’s page gives these dates for studies beginning in autumn 2027. The application opens on 7 December 2026 at 9.00 (UTC +2) and closes on 5 January 2027 at 15.00 (UTC +2). You cannot save the form as a draft, so complete and submit it in one session. Supporting documents must be uploaded by 12 January 2027 at 15.00 (UTC +2), and an application with a missing obligatory document is rejected as incomplete. Non-EU/EEA and non-Swiss applicants pay a €100 application fee. Check the time zone: 15.00 in Finland in January is 14.00 in Nigeria, 16.00 in Kenya and 18.00 in Pakistan, so do not leave submission until the last hour.
What the waiver is worth and what it is not
For the 2027 intake, Aalto lists master’s tuition of €15,000 a year in business, €17,000 in technology and multidisciplinary programmes, and €20,000 in art and architecture. The scholarship removes that fee for the normal two years. It does not pay rent, food or travel. Aalto says students need at least €800 a month for living costs, and its FAQ says to prepare for at least that much in the capital region (Espoo, Helsinki and Vantaa), where costs are higher. Plan your living-cost funding separately. This is a tuition waiver, not a full award.
How selection works and what applicants get wrong
Aalto describes the number of scholarships as very limited and says they go to the highest-achieving applicants under each programme’s own evaluation criteria. It also says programmes may decide not to grant any scholarships, so read the criteria on the page of the specific master’s programme, not a general description. In master’s admissions the scholarship is allocated during the academic evaluation stage, and the scholarship decision is given at the same time as the admission decision. That is why a common mistake is treating them as one outcome. You can be admitted without a scholarship, and then you owe the full tuition fee. The decision cannot be appealed.
Keeping the scholarship
The scholarship requires full-time study according to your approved personal study plan. Aalto checks study progress annually, with the review done by the end of March in the spring term, and issues such as missing credits must be resolved by the end of April. It lists studies progressing below 45 ECTS credits per academic year, which can end a residence permit, among the reasons a scholarship may be discontinued. Read these terms before you accept.
How it compares with other Nordic tuition awards
The Aalto and KTH awards work in a similar way: tuition only, no living costs, applied for inside the admission process. For a Swedish comparison, see the guide to studying in Sweden, and for the wider region the guide to studying in the Nordics. Use the proof of funds guide to see what a residence permit application asks you to show.