Review by the President
The highlight of 2023 was when Laurea University of Applied Sciences was awarded the Quality Label for Excellence
In 2023, the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC) awarded Laurea University of Applied Sciences the Quality Label for Excellence in higher education. FINEEC awards its quality label annually to just one higher education institution that has shown an exceptional level of high-quality development work. According to FINEEC, Laurea’s activities have demonstrated an innovative and pioneering spirit, a long-term approach to development, and an inclusive operating culture. FINEEC’s justifications also emphasised Laurea’s pioneering role in developing its societal interaction and operating methods, as Laurea continues to engage different actors, networks, and stakeholders in the region in a goal-oriented and extensive manner as part of its co-creation initiatives. One criterion for granting the Excellence label was Laurea’s exceptionally strong results and practices in research, development and innovation (RDI) activities and their development.
The results of Laurea’s RDI activities developed particularly positively in 2023, and the volume of competitive external R&D funding increased to a record level of EUR 8.3 million (EUR 7.3 million in 2022). The largest sources of R&D funding in 2023 were the European Social Fund (ESF, EUR 2.3 million), the EU’s Horizon framework programmes (EUR 1.7 million), the Finnish ministries’ project funding (EUR 1.4 million), and the European Regional Development Fund’s (ERDF + Interreg) project funding (EUR 1.4 million). Laurea’s business turnover decreased slightly from the previous year (EUR 3.1 million) to EUR 2.9 million in 2023.
In 2023, a record number of degrees were completed at Laurea, 2277 in total (1914 in 2022). The statistical employment rate of those with a university of applied sciences degree from Laurea remained high (96.0%) in 2023. In other words, there is plenty of demand for vocational higher education and the degrees completed at Laurea, and this is also demonstrated by the high attractiveness of Laurea’s degree-awarding programmes. In the joint application process of spring 2023, the number of primary applicants for Laurea’s degree programmes was 4.2 per starting place (3.9 in 2022), which means that Laurea retained its position as the most appealing university of applied sciences in Finland. In addition, degree-related feedback from students developed positively in 2023.
Laurea has long-standing traditions in the development of Finnish UAS pedagogy, and Laurea has made use of its own pedagogical operating model, Learning by Developing (LbD), for two decades now. In 2023, Laurea completed its pedagogical programme, which describes and defines Laurea’s approach to learning, teaching, guidance, and developing competence, the role that information and Laurea’s partners play in the process, as well as communal ways of acting at Laurea. The pedagogical programme outlines how competence develops in versatile, working life-oriented learning environments according to the LbD model, and how digitalisation reforms pedagogical practices in all forms of education. In addition, Laurea initiated its strategy process in 2023 to prepare for the negotiation process that began in the autumn of 2023 with the Ministry of Education and Culture on the 2025–2028 contract period, which will also include a reform of the funding model for Finnish universities of applied sciences.
Laurea monitors the feedback it receives from its partners with a stakeholder survey that it has carried out annually for a decade. In 2023, Laurea received a total grade of 4.0 (on a scale of 1–5), with 78% of respondents stating that they were willing to give or already had given a strong recommendation on Laurea’s behalf. During the current strategy period, Laurea’s key partnership network expanded to 101 organizations in 2023. According to the stakeholder survey, Laurea’s key partners are satisfied with its partnership programme (4.0 on a scale of 1–5).
As planned in the budget for 2023, Laurea University of Applied Sciences Ltd’s financial operating result was in the negative (EUR -1,044,825). The result for the financial year, which includes income and expenses from fundraising as well as investment-related income and expenses, was EUR +3,450,259. Even though the adjustment and development of Laurea’s activities has been burdensome for its community due to the current funding gap caused by the UAS funding model (1 January 2021 –) and its degree-pricing model, Laurea’s operational results developed encouragingly in 2023, creating a more solid basis for its operating conditions in the coming years.