Watch the Yle MOT documentary A Hoax Called Finland subtitled in English here.

A report by Yle's investigative journalism unit MOT has revealed the extent to which third-party agents are luring foreign students to Finland with false promises — and how the new arrivals often end up living a life of poverty and marginalisation as a result of the deception.

MOT found that the agents — who operate as partners of Finnish third-level institutions — exploit Finland's image as the "happiest country in the world" to sell an inaccurate or downright misleading image of life in the country.

The agents provide their clients with information about Finland, advice on how to secure a study place, and they even offer to handle the necessary paperwork — all for a substantial fee.

"Once you’ve found a part-time job, you can easily manage the expenses over there. You do not have to have funds for your living expenses, your accommodation, because it will be covered with the income you will be having from your part-time job," one agent told a potential student in a phone call.

You can listen to an extract from the call in the video below:

MOT also uncovered evidence that agents tell students they can easily find work and earn a living wage — even without any Finnish language skills.

The reality is quite different, as Finland grapples with an unemployment crisis that is especially difficult for foreign nationals. The misinformation spread by the agents therefore has serious consequences, with many of the students who move to Finland with dreams of a better life finding themselves in abject poverty, relying on handouts to survive.

The recruitment of students from abroad, especially from outside the EU, is big business for the Finnish education sector as the institutions can charge tuition fees.

The agents therefore provide a key revenue stream for Finnish universities and colleges — but representatives of the institutions interviewed by MOT acknowledged that some agents are misleading students and violating the agreed principles of the partnerships.

Misleading information

Thousands of students have arrived in Finland in recent years, in particular from South Asian countries such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

MOT began investigating the activities of third party agents in these countries during the summer after receiving tips from numerous sources about the spreading of misleading and inaccurate information.

Working in collaboration with Indian journalist Kalpana Pradhan, MOT hired local assistants to call four Indian and two Bangladeshi education agents over the autumn months — all of whom were partners of Finnish universities of applied sciences.

The assistants acted undercover, telling the agents they were seeking information on behalf of a relative planning to study in Finland. MOT recorded the calls as part of the investigation.

The agents provided the callers with false and misleading information, including that jobs in Finland are easy to find and a student can survive on a part-time income.

According to the Finnish Immigration Service Migri, a student would need to earn a minimum of 9,600 euros per year to cover their living expenses.

You can listen to examples of the calls in the video below. The voices of the assistants have been modified to protect their identities.

In one call, an agent representing a firm called RG International told MOT's undercover assistant that the student can borrow the necessary funds to pass the application process and pay the amount back later. This advice is contrary to Finnish law.

Finnish universities to review agent partnerships

MOT put the contents of the calls to Finnish universities of applied sciences who were represented by the agents.

Simo Mustila, Deputy CEO of Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, agreed that the agents' claims are misleading — for example that getting work is down to the individual student's own initiative.

"Right now it’s really hard to find work in the Helsinki metropolitan area without Finnish language skills, as there are so many applicants. Yes, these agent partners have been informed about this," Mustila said.

Mari-Anna Suurmunne, Vice Rector of Education at LAB University of Applied Sciences, told MOT that the agents have been operating in contravention of the principles agreed between institutions and their partners.

"Quite unfounded promises have been made," Suurmunne said, adding that LAB will assess whether to continue its cooperation with agents found to be providing false information.

"We will certainly contact these [partners featured in the calls]. There is definitely reason to consider terminating the contract," she said.

MOT heard similar statements from the other universities of applied sciences it contacted in relation to the agents' misinformation.

Suurmunne further noted that prospective students should be provided with factual and accurate information about studying and living in Finland, or they could run into big problems further down the road.

"It's not in anyone's interest for foreign students to get into financial difficulties because of the agents' promises. Then it’s very likely that they may have to quit their studies," she said.

"I expected a better life than in Nepal"

Suurmunne's fears are well founded.

MOT also heard from students who moved to Finland on the back of receiving false and misleading information from education agents in their home countries — and then faced a very different reality from the one they expected when they arrived in Finland.

Nepalese national Rikita told MOT that she, along with her husband, borrowed some 30,000 euros from her parents and relatives to fund the move to Finland — and promised to start repaying the debt after six months.

"In Nepal, relatives help each other and lend money, with interest. I believed I could find a part-time job and gradually pay off my debt," Rikita said, adding that the dream life she was sold by the education agents has turned out to be a nightmare.

"They didn’t say anything about how difficult life can be as a student if you can't find work and support yourself," Rikita said.

She has been unable to pay any of the money she borrowed when moving to Finland, and in fact faces being plunged even further into debt as she must pay nearly 10,000 euros in tuition fees later this month.

If she can't cover the fee, Rikita could lose her right to study in Finland as well as her residence permit.

"My life hasn’t been what I expected. I expected a better life than in Nepal," she told MOT.

Rikita and her husband now live on the 750 euros he receives per month in social welfare benefits for attending a Finnish language and integration course. They have also had to rely on food handouts to survive.

Indian national Bhavesh Patel had a similar story to tell.

He moved to Finland last year to study Hospitality Management, Tourism and Hospitality Business at the XAMK University of Applied Sciences in Savonlinna after an agent in India told him that getting work was easy.

"That's not true," he said, noting further that "agents are only interested in their commission. They don't care what the student does in Finland."

Education reform created Finland's new "poor underclass"

MOT heard from other students who reported being afraid to speak up because of the fear of deportation.

Instead, they try to make ends meet by accepting food handouts from churches and local charities.

Sonja Jakobsson, the university chaplain of the Helsinki Parish Union, told MOT that the presence of foreign students — especially those from South Asian countries — in the line for food banks has increased significantly in recent years.

Jakobsson described the foreign students who join the lines as "victims of international education recruitment" and adds that a new "poor underclass" has emerged in Finland as a result of the education agents' deceit.

Jakobsson also noted that the roots of this problem lie in a change to Finland's education laws introduced in 2022 by the government of Sanna Marin — which has, she said, created a "poverty trap".

The reform meant that students coming to Finland from outside the EU to study at third-level institutions were granted a continuous residence permit for the duration of their studies, instead of having to re-apply for the permit every year, as had previously been the case. They could also bring their families with them — with spouses now eligible to receive state support such as unemployment benefits and housing allowance, even though students themselves are not.

This law reform encouraged Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences to increase the number of English-language degree programmes as a means of attracting fee-paying students from outside the EU.

Students and their families began to arrive in Finland in large numbers, especially from South Asia.

However, many have been taking huge risks in the hope of building a better life in Finland.

For example, many students — such as Rikita and Bhavesh — arrived in Finland heavily in debt.

According to Sonja Jakobsson, this makes many students vulnerable to exploitation in the labour market or even to sexual abuse — especially young women who come to Finland on their own.

Facing huge debts and with no income, they may be forced into entering sham marriages or even sexually exploited in exchange for housing. MOT heard from two students who reported such experiences.

"The students didn't take on huge debts and have their relatives sell land for this. They didn't come here to lose their property and control over their lives. And many bring young children," Jakobsson said.

She also called for Finnish educational institutions to stop using the services of third-party agents.

"It's extremely alarming. We can't ethically continue like this," Jakobsson said.