Membership
Members of the Student Union are entitled to make use of student union services, various student discounts, FSHS services and the student lunch benefit. All members may take part in the Student Union’s activities, e.g., by participating in events and applying for the Student Council, Board, and other positions of trust.
More information on membership criteria can be found in the documents in Material Bank.
See the exceptions about membership concerning exchange students, doctoral researchers and MBA student from the bottom of this page!
Membership Fee
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How to pay
In the academic year 2024-2025, the Student Union membership fee is 57 euros (Autumn term 28,50 euros, Spring term 28,50 euros). After paying the membership fee, starting from 1 August you may start using an electronic student card on Tuudo, or get a term sticker for your student card.
New student: after accepting your offered study spot, register via Opintopolku.fi and pay the membership fee.
Continuing student: complete your term registration and pay the membership fee via OILI within the registration period. On Peppi, you can check and correct your contact information.
registration information in the University website
Arriving international student: after receiving your acceptance letter from University of Oulu, you can pay your membership fee in kide.app.
Only students with their term registration status as ‘present’ can be members of the Student Union. Most of our benefits are only for Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students.
If you don’t have a student account, online banking information or none of the above, you may pay the membership fee directly to our bank account. Primarily pay via Oili or Opintopolku if you can, and contact toimisto@oyy.fi if you are unsure of what to do. NB: For new students, it takes about 24h for the student account to activate!
Membership fee payment information:
Recipient: Oulun yliopiston ylioppilaskunta
Bank account number (IBAN): FI20 5741 3620 0141 31
Amount: 57 e (Autumn term 28,50 euros, Spring term 28,50 euros + possible voluntary payments)
Message: Your name
You may also pay the membership fee by cash or card in our office.
Erkki Koiso-Kanttilankatu 1, 2T-door, 1st floor (Linnanmaa campus)
If you’re paying via bank transfer, forward the receipt to your faculty’s Academic Affairs Services for registration. The contact information of the academic affairs services can be found on the University website.
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For Doctoral Researchers
In the academic year 2024-2025, the membership fee for Doctoral researchers is 40 euros per academic year or 20 euros per term.
Doctoral researchers may join the Student Union and pay their membership when they register in the Oili system. They can also join the Student Union and pay the fee at any time during the academic year. If you join the Student Union during the semester, you can pay the membership fee directly to the Student Union’s bank account. After joining the Student Union, you can order a green graduate student card indicating your membership (the card for Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students is blue).
NB: Doctoral researchers are not entitled to use FSHS services or the student lunch benefit.
Doctoral researchers have been eligible to VR (train) tickets from 1.1.2024 onwards. Doctoral researchers can also receive local benefits such as student-priced tickets to different events, discounted hobby opportunities and discounts in different stores. As an OYY member, Doctoral researchers are entitled to use all of our services. Doctoral researchers may also run or vote in the Student Council election.
The Student Union has a section for Doctoral researchers (Doctoral Researchers Section DRS). DRS aims to make the voices of different Doctoral researchers heard and bring awareness to their needs in the University of Oulu and the Student Union. All Doctoral researchers are welcome to join, but only members of the Student Union can act as official members or Chairs of the section. The section operates in English. General information on Doctoral researcher related matters can be received by joining an email list.
OYY coordinates the selection of Doctoral researchers for Doctoral programme committees and the follow-up group. All Doctoral researchers in University of Oulu who are members of OYY may apply to Doctoral programme committees and the UniOGS follow-up group. You can find the application announcements on our web page.
Student card
The student card is proof of your Student Union membership, and it can be used to get various benefits and discounts, both locally and nationally. The student card can be on mobile or a physical card. The mobile card can be used to prove your membership everywhere the same as the physical card.
There is currently a backlog of orders for student cards! It may therefore take longer than usual to receive your card. While you wait, you can use your mobile card in Tuudo, as you will get the same discounts at student restaurants, for example, as you would with a physical card. Once your card is ready, you will receive a pick-up notification by email.
Student card benefits and discounts:
- VR train tickets and Matkahuolto bus tickets with student prices
- Student-priced lunch in a student restaurant
- Various culture and sports events
- Various restaurants and bars
Additionally, students over 25 years of age can use the student card to get a discounted season ticket in Oulu public transport.
Students under 25 are automatically given the youth discount.
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Ordering the student Card
You can order the physical student card via the University shop. The cards are delivered to the Student Union office or at Kontinkangas campus service point. You will be notified after your card has been delivered, after which you may retrieve the card. The student card must have a term sticker, proving its validity. When you order the card, it will already have the first sticker on. After that, the sticker must be replaced annually either by retrieving it from the Student Union office or the Academic Affairs Service Point, or by having it delivered to your home by placing an order via kide.app.
Note! New students can only order a student card once their University IDs are active.
Student cards and 24/7 access cards ordered by continuing students during the summer will be delivered in August.
There is currently a backlog of orders for student cards! It may therefore take longer than usual to receive your card. While you wait, you can use your mobile card in Tuudo, as you will get the same discounts at student restaurants, for example, as you would with a physical card. Once your card is ready, you will receive a pick-up notification by email.
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Mobile card
OYY members can use the mobile version of the student card on Tuudo, which can be installed free of charge. You’ll receive your Tuudo student verification as soon as you install the app and log in with your University of Oulu student account. Activation of the card may require that you update the app.
Note: Pivo is no longer in use. If you have used your student card in Pivo, you can move to Tuudo or get yourself a physical student card.
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Validity Of The Term Sticker
The term sticker proves the validity of the student card. The term sticker for the full academic year and the Autumn term sticker become valid at the start of the new academic year from the beginning of August. The Spring term sticker becomes valid at the start of a new year.
E.g., in student restaurants, VR and Matkahuolto, the Autumn term sticker is valid until the end of January the following year, and the Spring and full academic year term stickers are valid until the end of September.
Note that FSHS’s practices deviate from this. You are only entitled to use FSHS services until the end of term or academic year. So, the Autumn term sticker is valid until the end of December, and the Spring and full academic year term stickers are valid until the end of May. Continuing students may use FSHS services during the summer using the previous term’s sticker, but from the beginning of September the card must have a new sticker.
You can get stickers from the Student Union office, Academic Affairs Service Point, and delivered to your home via kide.app.
Student card benefits and discounts:
- VR train tickets and Matkahuolto bus tickets with student prices
- Student-priced lunch in a student restaurant
- Various culture and sports events
- Various restaurants and bars
Additionally, students over 25 years of age can use the student card to get a discounted season ticket in Oulu public transport.
Students under 25 are automatically given the youth discount.
Membership fee, exceptions
International degree students and exchange students
In the case of international students, the legal membership requirement applies only to international degree students. For exchange students the membership is optional, but highly recommended by both us and the University – the benefits are so good that your membership will pay for itself within your first few weeks here.
Doctoral researchers
Doctoral researchers can apply for postgraduate membership as long as they do not have withstanding study rights at graduate level. The price of postgraduate membership is 40 € per entire academic year or 20 € per semester. The membership comes with all the benefits excluding healthcare and lunch, which are nationally negotiated up to graduate-level only.
Students of MBA programme
Students of MBA programmes are exempt from student union membership. An MBA does not meet the legal requirements to constitute an official Masters degree in Finland. This means that MBA students are not eligible for student benefits.