Last modified 2.3.2012 at 12:11

BITs of Learning

Text: Maria Skyttä Photo: Pekka Kallasaari

Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oulu UAS) offers three international degree programmes. One of them is Business Information Technology (BIT), which can also be completed as a double degree in co-operation with Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences in Germany. Applications are being accepted from January 9 to February 14, 2012.

Chinese student Wang Yini enjoys the international atmosphere of the school. She compares the school to a small community.

The head of the degree programme, Mr Ilkka Mikkonen describes business information technology as something between hard science, such as engineering, and the humanities. The slogan for the programme gives a good overview: Business in Information Technology or Information Technology in Business.

According to Ilkka, graduates are placed equally in the field of IT, in professions such as product manager or web designer, and in all kinds of businesses, as IT is nowadays a part of everything. Students have some choice in how much they want to focus on the business aspect.

- Studies can consist almost up to half of business studies, Ilkka explains.

Wang Yini, who came to Oulu from China to study BIT likes the balance between the two.

- I like the combination of business and IT. You can have about half and half. I think it is good and very well balanced.

Only five Finnish universities offer a similar programme. They all have slightly different focuses. According to Ilkka, Oulu's strength lies in web applications. This is the field, in which Wang Yini has already been employed. As a part of her studies, Wang Yini did her job training at a local company in Oulu, Koodiviidakko, where she now works as a web designer. She was very happy with the training.

- You learn the basics at the university. Then the company and real projects there train you more. The gradual process makes it easier to move on.

Finding Finland

Wang Yini found Finland and Oulu UAS with the help of her father.

- He thought Finland would be good because it is a safe country, she says.

She was also impressed by the good quality of education and the low cost of studying.

She is just one of the many international students in the BIT programme.

- We take 25 new students a year, of which about half are Finnish and half international students. Currently, we have students from over 20 countries, Ilkka sums up.

Finnish and international students are being accepted from different pools in order to keep the half-and-half ratio.

- However, the ratio is currently slightly in favor of international students, as the number of Finnish applicants is a little low. We would like to see more good Finnish applicants, Ilkka says.

- We accept applications early in the year, which may cause some Finnish students to miss the application period, he adds.

A world of networks

Both Ilkka and Wang Yini say that multiculturalism is an everyday part of the programme. Ilkka considers internationalism an important part of the studies with real-life benefits.

- When foreign students return home, they take their competence and connections to Finland with them. That helps create international business opportunities, he says.

As a student, Wang Yini also enjoys the international atmosphere. Many of the students live close to one another and spend time together.