Sound image of Lapland UAS

The fields of study are interesting, the education is of high quality and the degrees are respected in working life. Lapland UAS also has positive visibility in social media.

This information is revealed by Taloustutkimus Oy’s survey Korkeakoulujen imago 2019 (“Image of universities of applied sciences in 2019”). The survey examined the images of universities of applied sciences among young Finns under the age of 30 years. The focus was on recognition of universities of applied sciences and their evaluation in terms of various image factors.

The survey included all 24 Finnish universities of applied sciences, which were evaluated through nine different image statements. The number in parenthesis is the placement of Lapland University of Applied Sciences for that particular statement.

1. The fields of study are interesting (2nd)
2. The teaching is of high quality (2nd)
3. The geographical location is attractive (14th)
4. Has a good reputation as a place to study (4th)
5. The degree is respected on the job market (3rd)
6. Offers international opportunities (6th)
7. Stands out from other universities of applied sciences (4th)
8. Has positive visibility in traditional and social media (2nd)
9. The website provides useful information (8th)

Lapland UAS reached the Top 3 in four image factors: interesting fields of study, high-quality education, respect of degree in working life and positive visibility in traditional and social media. Lapland UAS only gives others a handicap in terms of attractiveness of the geographical location, which is below the national average.

With a scale from 4 to 10, the overall grade given to Lapland UAS by the respondents was 7.78, which is 7th best overall among the universities of applied sciences. In Northern Finland, the grade is very positive at 7.97.

Women (7.88) were slightly more positive in their evaluation of Lapland UAS than men (7.66), and 20–24-year-olds were the most positive age group (7.95). Students of vocational institutes (8.03) looked on Lapland UAS more positively than upper secondary school students (7.65).

The university of applied sciences has room for improvement in general recognition, since just 15% of the 2,433 respondents know it from some context. The average result of universities of applied sciences was 19%, with quite a lot of dispersion on this indicator. However, Lapland UAS is well recognised in its own operating environment, Northern Finland.

Read more about the most recognised and respected universities of applied sciences in Taloustutkimus Oy’s press release of 26 April 2019 (in Finnish).

Universities of applied sciences also gain valuable feedback from the survey for communications about training programmes and development of website contents. The survey also looked at the attractiveness of different fields of study at universities of applied sciences and universities.

Taloustutkimus Oy has been conducting image surveys of universities of applied sciences since 2002.