Admission criteria for Circular Economy

Read more about the programme at Master's programme in Circular Economy.

• Bachelor of Science in Technology 
  Tekniikan kandidaatti 
  Completed in a University
• Bachelor's Degree in a field other than Technology  
  Completed in a University  

Note: Degree-related points in the academic evaluation only given for degrees in the field of Technology, Natural Sciences, Business Administration or Social Sciences.

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Environmental Technology (ympäristötekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting the LUT studies are not eligible to apply. 

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University in a field other than Environmental Technology are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. 

Applying with a Master's Degree in a field other than Environmental Technology completed in a University is accepted only if the Master's Degree having been completed before the two-tier degree system when there were no separate Bachelor's Degrees awarded. 

• Bachelor of Engineering 
  Insinööri (AMK)
  Completed in a University of Applied Sciences
• Bachelor's Degree in a field other than Engineering   
  Completed in a University of Applied Sciences 

Note: Degree-related points in the academic evaluation only given for degrees in the field of Engineering, Business Administration or Social Sciences.

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Environmental Technology in a university (ympäristötekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting the LUT studies are not eligible to apply. 

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University of Applied Sciences are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. 

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University of Applied Sciences with no prior Bachelor's Degree while the prior degree having been completed on a higher secondary or secondary level are not eligible to apply. 
 

Admissions Committee making the final decision on eligibility 

The Admissions Committee for the programme reserves a right to decide whether the degree and the completed studies provide the applicant with eligibility to apply to the programme.

• Bachelor of Science in Technology 
  Completed in a University - All countries
   
• Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences 
  Completed in a University - All countries
   
• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration 
  Completed in a University - All countries
   
• Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences 
  Completed in a University - All countries

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. 

Applying with a Master's Degree completed in a University is accepted only if the Master's Degree having been completed before the two-tier degree system when there were no separate Bachelor's Degrees awarded. 

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Environmental Technology in a university in Finland (ympäristötekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting the LUT studies are not eligible to apply. 

Applying with a combination of a 2-year Bachelor's + 2-year Master's Degree completed in certain countries is accepted when the combination of these two degrees is equivalent only to a Finnish Bachelor's Degree. 

• Bachelor of Engineering  
  Completed in a University of Applied Sciences - EU/EEA countries and Switzerland

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University of Applied Sciences are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. 

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Environmental Technology in a university in Finland (ympäristötekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting the LUT studies are not eligible to apply. 

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University of Applied Sciences with no Bachelor's Degree while the prior degree to the Master's having been completed on a higher secondary or secondary level are not eligible to apply. 
 

General requirements for the Bachelor's Degree

• The degree must be equivalent to a corresponding Finnish Bachelor's Degree regarding the number of academic years and ECTS credits.
• The degree must provide eligibility for applying to university level Master's studies in the country where the degree was awarded in.

General requirements for the degree-awarding university

• The university must be recognized by the national education system in the country in question
• The university must be listed on the World Higher Education Database WHED by International Association of Universities  

Admissions Committee making the final decision on eligibility 

The Admissions Committee for the programme reserves a right to decide whether the degree and the completed studies provide the applicant with eligibility to apply to the programme.

There are no previous programme-related courses required for the programme.

In the academic evaluation however, degree-related points are only given for degrees completed in the field of Technology, Natural Sciences, Business Administration or Social Sciences.

Furthermore, higher points for the degree are given if having completed a degree in one of the fields mentioned above with a major related to sustainability or environmental issues.

There is no minimum arithmetic GPA required for the programme.

The arithmetic GPA will be checked and verified by LUT University.

In case the original grading scale not being on a scale of 1.00 - 5.00 the arithmetic GPA will be converted by LUT University onto this scale with two decimals during the evaluation process and evaluated.

The grading scale must include at least two different grades for passing that together form a clear range of passing grades so that an arithmetic GPA can be calculated.

If the completed courses having been evaluated by using verbal or letter-based grades, these grades will be converted on a numerical scale of 1.00-5.00 by using linear conversion.

What is included in the arithmetic GPA?

• Grades for all the individual courses
• Grade for Final Thesis 

for the degree you must be applying with. 

The courses and the Final Thesis must have been completed at the time of applying and they must be listed on an official Transcript of Records.

What is excluded from the arithmetic GPA?

• Courses evaluated with 'pass' or 'fail'
• Courses evaluated with a grade corresponding to a failed grade
• Courses without a related study unit such as ECTS credit, credit, credit hour etc.
• Combined modules including only a single grade for all the courses included in the module unless the individual courses having been evaluated separately
• Courses not included in the degree you have to apply with
• Courses not included in the degree you have to apply with that have been credited or compensated unless the degree-awarding university having evaluated them on a numerical, verbal or on a letter-based grading scale

You must prove your proficiency in English with one of the following:

• one of the accepted language tests
• a degree in higher education completed in English in an EU/EEA country or in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom or the United States of America
• a degree in higher education completed in Finnish or in Swedish in Finland

More information: How to prove your proficiency in English

You cannot get yet another right to study in a Master's programme if you have already

• graduated from the same Master's programme
• a valid right to study in the same Master's programme
• used the maximum study period included in your right to study in the same Master's programme

If the applicant is mistakenly admitted to the same Master's programme again under these circumstances, the latter right to study will be revoked.

Before starting your application process, have a look at the basics on applying at

• Applying to Master's Programmes through Regular Admission
  
  >> Application process

where all the important information regarding to applying in general is given.

Original study units on Transcript of Records

The Transcript of Records for the Bachelor's Degree you are applying with must include 

• original study units for each completed course
• cumulative number of original study units for all the completed courses

What to do when original study units are missing on the Transcript of Records?

If the required original study units are missing from the documentation, the application will be considered incomplete.

Original cumulative study units to be indicated on application form

You must indicate the cumulative number of original study units completed for the Bachelor's Degree you are applying with. 

If you are applying with an incomplete Bachelor's Degree, you must indicate the number of units you expect to complete in order to graduate. 

If you have completed a combination of degrees that together correspond to a Bachelor's Degree, you must indicate the total number of study units for all the related degrees.

Educational documents

• Degree Certificate for the Bachelor's Degree + an official translation when required
  Upload a scan of the original. 

  
  If your Bachelor's Degree is a combination of two different degrees, upload one combined scan or document including both original Degree Certificates.

  If you have not yet graduated, there is no need to upload a statement confirming that you are still studying.
   

• Transcript of Records for the Bachelor's Degree + an official translation when required
  Upload a scan of the original. 

  
  If your Bachelor's Degree is a combination of two different degrees, upload one combined scan or document including both original Transcripts of Records. 

  The following elements must be included in the Transcript/s of Records: 
  * Original study units for each course
  * Original cumulative study units for the degree
  * Grades for each course

  If any of the required elements are missing, you must upload an additional official statement from the university in English indicating and explaining the missing elements as requested.

  You can also provide the original study units for each course, as well as the cumulative ones for the degree, by uploading an official programme brochure if these elements are indicated in the brochure.

  All additional documents must be combined and uploaded to the same section as the Transcript of Records.  

  What to do when original study units are missing on the Transcript of Records?

Proving the proficiency in English  

Prove your English language skills with one of the following:

• Language Test result 
  Upload a scan of the language test result or a screenshot from your test account. 
  Results are always verified electronically from the test database.
  There is no need to send us the original test result.
  Further information: How to prove your proficiency in English
   
• Accepted educational documents for proving the required language skills
  In certain cases, proving proficiency in English can be done through educational documents. 
  Upload the required document/s as requested.
  Further information: How to prove your proficiency in English 

Additional educational documents when required 

• Additional educational documents + official translations when required 
  Upload scans of the original documents.

  If you have several documents for one purpose, upload one combined scan or document including all the different documents. 

Examples for the additional educational documents:

• Proving proficiency in English with a degree apart from the one you are applying with
• Having completed programme-specific, university-level studies that are not included in the degree you are applying with

Proving your identity  

• Passport or ID card showing your nationality
  Upload a scan of the relevant document.

Proving your residency in Finland if having one 

• Finnish Residence Permit Card 
  Upload a scan of both sides of the card.

What is an unfinished Bachelor's Degree?

• You have not yet graduated 
  = You have not been awarded a Degree Certificate 
      or a Provisional Degree Certificate

Having completed all the studies does not mean that you have graduated unless you have been awarded the Degree Certificate or the Provisional Degree Certificate.

If not being able to upload the Degree Certificate or the Provisional Degree Certificate by the supplementary deadline, you must identify on the application form as "not yet graduated" for the related question.

A Provisional Degree Certificate is a predetermined form of an official document awarded by the university that looks formally similar to the final Degree Certificate, but is provisional because the final document has not yet been awarded at the official graduation ceremony.

A Provisional Degree Certificate is not a statement provided by a staff member of the university confirming that you have completed your studies - such a document will not be accepted as a Provisional Degree Certificate.
 

When applying

• Indicate the estimated date of graduation on the application form
  • No official statement for the date required from the home university
• Upload your latest Transcript of Records on the application form
  • + the official translation when required
• The Transcript of Records must include the title of the degree to be awarded
  • If the title is not indicated on the Transcript of Records, an additional statement issued by the awarding university for the title of the degree must be uploaded to the application form.
     

If admitted

You must be able to

• Graduate by 31 August 2026
• Email the following documents to admission@lut.fi by 31 August 2026 at 15:00 (UTC+3)
  • Scan for your original Degree Certificate or Provisional Degree Certificate
  • Scan for your original Transcript of Records
• Email the following documents to admission@lut.fi by 7 September 2026 at 15:00 (UTC+3)
  • Scans for the official translations in English if the original documents not issued in English, Finnish or Swedish. 

The documents must be provided according to the given instructions despite of the country the degree was awarded in.

If not being able to meet with both the requirements by the given deadlines, you will automatically lose your place without a possibility to reclaim it.

Only complete applications will be forwarded to the Admissions Committee for academic evaluation. 

First, the Admissions Committee verifies your academic eligibility for the degree to which you are applying. Once this has been confirmed, the academic evaluation begins.

This evaluation is conducted in two stages, with only a limited number of applicants proceeding to the second stage based on their performance in the first stage.
 

Stage 1: Educational background

The applicant's educational background will be evaluated based on the application documents and the elements included in the evaluation. 

A limited number of applicants will be invited to an interview. The final selection will then be made from among those interviewed, based on the following criteria:

• Total points for stages 1 and 2

To be admitted, the applicant must score at least 7 out of 10 points for the interview.

Only a limited number of applicants will be admitted.

Previous studies, max. 10 points
 

10 points for the following degrees
with a major related to sustainability or environmental issues
 

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Technology, Natural Sciences, Business Administration or Social Sciences
  Degree completed in a university - All countries.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in the field of Engineering
  Degree completed in a University of Applied Sciences - EU/EEA countries and Switzerland.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Business Administration or Social Sciences
  Degrees completed in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences.
  Holders of a Finnish degree diplomi-insinööri, ympäristötekniikka are not eligible to apply.

Even if having completed a Master's Degree, you must apply with your Bachelor's Degree.

If your Master's Degree has a programme-related focus, you must also upload your Master's Degree Certificate and Transcript of Records to prove of having such a major for your degree.
 

6 points for the following degrees
 

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Technology, Natural Sciences, Business Administration or Social Sciences
  Degree completed in a university - All countries.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in the field of Engineering
  Degree completed in a University of Applied Sciences - EU/EEA countries and Switzerland.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Business Administration or Social Sciences
  Degrees completed in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences.
  Holders of a Finnish degree diplomi-insinööri, ympäristötekniikka are not eligible to apply.
   

Even if having completed a Master's Degree, you must apply with your Bachelor's Degree.

Requirements for the programme-related studies
 

Academic Success, max. 5 points

Arithmetic GPA for the degree you must apply with:

• 2.50 - 3.49 = 1 point
• 3.50 - 4.49 = 3 points
• 4.50 - 5.00 = 5 points

For further information, please see Arithmetic GPA evaluated in the process under Admission Criteria.

On the second stage of the admissions process, a limited number of applicants are invited to an interview in the order of the highest total points on stage 1.
 

Elements evaluated in the interview

• Motivation
• Suitability for the programme
• Possibilities for successfully completing your studies in two years
• Language skills in English regarding fluent communication and professional terminology

To possibly get admitted, the applicant must score at least 7 out of 10 points for the interview.