Hello everyone! This is the Student Union of the University of Helsinki (HYY for short) welcoming you to the community of university students at UH. The Student Union is a 143-year-old interest and service organisation for approximately 30,000 students, which you can join by paying the membership fee. And why should you join? Let me tell you about some of the benefits available to our members.

About half of the membership fee is the health care fee of FSHS, Finnish Student Health Service. They provide general, mental and oral health care services for undergraduate students. General health care is free of charge and dentist appointments come at a reasonable price. The health care system alone is good enough reason to join the Student Union! Doctoral/PhD students unfortunately can’t use the services of FSHS but their membership fee is of course smaller by half.

In Finland students get a lot of discounts – but only if they have a student card. Only members of the Student Union can get the student card, also known as the Lyyra card. With the Lyyra card you can get discounts such as -50% of public transport and cheap lunches at Unicafe in addition to more than 1000 discounts all over Finland. For more information about Lyyra, go to www.lyyra.fi and apply for the card before you arrive in Finland. If you have trouble paying the card online, you can also pay it at the Student Union’s Service office.

And a special note to all exchange students; if you want to join the Student Union, you have to do so by 31st of August OR within five working days of your arrival to Finland. If you arrive late, you need to visit the Student Services in the Main building of the University before coming to the Student Union’s office.

More information about the membership fee and member benefits on the Student Union’s webpage.

Make sure that you get the best out of your stay in Finland – join the Student Union!

Emma Ronkainen
Office Secretary