The Open University at Åbo Akademi University
Rebecca Karlsson, Planning Officer Linda Karvonen, Coordinator
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September 2021
What is the Open University?
Part of the Centre for Lifelong Learning
Aim:
• Promote educational and regional equality by offering university courses to the general public
How?
• Open to everyone, regardless of age and educational background
• Offers basic, intermediate and some advanced level courses from many different fields
• Follows the curricula of Åbo Akademi University, and the content, quality and level of the courses are equivalent to undergraduate studies
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The structure of the courses
• The courses have been planned to accommodate adult learners.
• Teaching is organized mainly in the evenings and at weekends.
• Flexibility in time and place where needed.
• Many courses feature both distance learning and contact teaching or blended learning.
• Some courses are completely offered online.
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Study fees
• Open University studies are subject to a fee, 50 euros per
semester/term.
• Students at Åbo Akademi
University do not need to pay the study fee.
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Open university students have different goals
• Getting acquainted with university-level studies
• Open university courses as part of a university degree
• Pursuing a new career
• Improving your general education
• Maintaining professional skills
• Spending a gap year productively
• Learning about different disciplines
• Experiencing the joy of learning and gaining new insights
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Some statistics
• annually about 2000 students and more than 200 courses
• online courses about 100 per year (at the moment most are online because of corona)
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Courses in English
• Most courses are in Swedish, but quite a few in English 2021-2022
- 26 courses in 10 subjects
- 9 language courses (Swedish and Finnish as foreign languages)
• Most courses are offered online
(exception: some language courses)
• Look out specifically for these during this academic year:
• Animal Law
• Sustainable development
New program on Animal Law
• Interested in the course
”Introduction to Animal Law” (1 September – 3 October 2021)?
• Please contact Linda Karvonen (linda.karvonen@abo.fi) as soon as possible.
• More information: abo.fi/anilex
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www.abo.fi/openuniversity
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