Finland’s higher education institutions attract thousands of foreigners, both researchers and students. In 2019, foreign students accounted for 6.8% of all students in higher education institutions, which is higher than the average in OECD countries. In 2019, 2,671 new foreign students were enrolled in Finnish universities and 2,796 in universities of applied sciences (Statistics Finland, May 2019). Foreign students completed more than 4,500 academic degrees in Finland in 2019; almost 500 of these were doctoral degrees. To address the labour shortage, a growing number of these academic graduates should be employed in Finland. Talent Boost involves closer cooperation between higher education institutions, companies and service providers in regional cities during the entire period from pre-enrolment marketing to students to post-graduate employment promotion efforts.
In the internationalisation programme of higher education institutions, which was launched in 2021, the Talent Boost operations are a second key priority alongside the global programme. The internationalisation programme is funded from the strategy funding included in the basic funding of higher education institutions. Talent Boost measures will develop cooperation between higher education institutions and companies, help integrate international students arriving for various reasons by strengthening the Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland (SIMHE) functions and by developing and increasing the supply in studies of Finnish as a second language. In addition, individual higher education institutions will receive funding to strengthen and support regional Talent Hub activities.