Limited duration of studies

Those admitted to Hanken between 2005-2014: you may register as absent for 4 terms without it impacting your study time.

Those admitted to Hanken 2015 and later: you may register as absent for 2 terms without it impacting your study time. During your first academic year, you may register as absent for the following reasons only:

• military service (including Non-Military Service or Women's Voluntary Military Service);
• maternity, paternity or parental leave;
• if you cannot begin your studies due to being incapacitated by personal illness or injury.

All master's students admitted to Hanken 2005 or later: you may register as absent for the following reasons without it impacting your study time:

• military service
• maternity, paternity or parental leave

Please note that child care leave does not allow absence without impacting your study time.

If you fail to complete the annual registration, you will lose your study right at Hanken and must apply for re-matriculation. The time elapsed is included in your target study time, i.e. it counts as if you were registered as present.

You will lose your right to study at Hanken if you do not graduate within the set time. If you have acceptable reasons for a slower study pace, you can apply for an extension of study time. Acceptable reasons are for example health reasons, family responsibilities, societal commitments and systematic training for top-level sports. If your study right has ended and you have lost your study right, but still wish to completed your studies, you need to apply for a renewed study right and pay an application fee.

You can be granted an extension of study time only if you have a goal-oriented and realistic study plan in Sisu. Extensions are granted for a maximum of 4 terms at a time, even if your study plan requires more than 4 terms. You can apply for another extension later on, if needed. Extensions will not be granted if the studies have been completed at a much slower pace than planned, without an acceptable reason. Extensions will also not be granted if you have used up your study right without completing a single course at Hanken, without supplying an acceptable reason for it.

Extensions of the study right are always granted for graduation, i.e. if you have completed all the necessary studies, but won't be able to graduate within the limits of your study right.

Application for an extension of your study right

You can apply for an extension of your study right during the last semester of your study right. We process the applications twice per year. If your study right expires by the end of the spring term (31 July), you need to apply for an extension between 1-31 May. If your study right expires by the end of the autumn term (31 December), you must apply for an extension between 1-30 November. Please note that you cannot apply for extension of your study right in advance during a previous semester's application period. The applications are processed after the deadline (in June and December).

From 1.1.2025, a processing fee of 50 euros will be charged for the application of extension of study right (due to changed legislation).

Submit the application in Sisu according to the instructions on this page Opens in new window . Please do not enter sensitive personal or health related data in the application in Sisu.

If you have missed the application deadline, please contact studycounsellor-hki@hanken.fi or studycounsellor-vaasa@hanken.fi.

Extension processing fees: the principles for fee refunds 

The processing fee charged for extension applications (i.e. a student’s application to receive extended time in their right to study) is returned only under particular circumstances. Below are the conditions under which refunds are or are not issued.

The processing fee is refunded when

• The fee was paid multiply due to a technical problem. If technical problems result in a student paying the processing fee more than once, the extra payment(s) will be returned. In such cases, students must themselves apply for the refund by contacting sisu-help@hanken.fi
• The student paid both an extension application fee and a readmission application fee, though only one fee was charged. The readmission fee will be refunded if the extension fee was also paid.
• The student was misinformed by the university about applying for an extension. The position of the OHA-Forum: The fee will be refunded if the application was submitted unnecessarily for reasons attributable to the university.
  • The application was left unprocessed and no decision was made.
    For example, the student applied for an extension, even though their right to study was not ending at the end of the term.
    • This situation is possible in the SISU service if the student has submitted the application for an extension and pay the processing fee before the statutory absence has been registered and the right to study has been extended due to statutory absence beyond the current semester.

The processing fee is not refunded when

• The student withdraws their application. If the student completes an extension application and pays the fee, but later decides that the extended time was unnecessary, then the fee is not refunded.Since the processing fee is meant to cover the administrative work of application processing, the fee remains payable.
• The student applies for an extension, but withdraws it later because they are unable to study in the next term. The fee is not refunded in such cases.

Students must themselves submit a request for the refund if they feel they have good grounds for it. The university considers requests on a case-by-case basis in order to ensure that refunds are justified. Please contact studyinfo@hanken.fi 

In case your study time, and therefore right to study, has already expired, you can apply for a renewed study right by filling out a separate electronic form and paying a processing fee of 50 euros (due to changed legislation from 1.1.2025). 

Please contact studycounsellor-hki@hanken.fi or studycounsellor-vaasa@hanken.fi for more information.