Savonia University of Applied Sciences

Savonia University of Applied Sciences (Finnish: ) is a local municipality-owned Finnish institution of higher education based in the cities of Kuopio, Iisalmi and Varkaus.

Savonia offers bachelor's and master's degree programmes. It is the sixth largest University of Applied Sciences in Finland with about 6,500 students.

The largest field of education is Engineering. Engineers graduate after a minimum of four years and 240 ECTS credits after which they are awarded with the degree of Insinööri (AMK), equivalent to a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng). The second largest field is Business, which educates its students for a minimum of three years and 210 ECTS credits. Business studies lead to the degree of Tradenomi, equivalent to Bachelor of Business Administration.

Savonia University of Applied Sciences is participating in the Bologna Process.

The new provisional institution was combined from very old (by Finnish standards) local establishments: *Kuopio Academy of Design (Kuopion Muotoiluakatemia), est. 1884 *Kuopio Polytechnic (Kuopion Teknillinen oppilaitos), est. 1886 *Kuopio Institute of Commerce (Kuopion kauppaoppilaitos), est. 1887 *Walter Ahlström's Polytechnic (Walter Ahlströmin Teknillinen oppilaitos) in Varkaus *Varkaus Institute of Commerce (Varkauden kauppaoppilaitos)

Soon they were followed by Kuopio School of Public Health (Kuopion terveydenhuolto-oppilaitos, est. 1896) and the institution expanded also to Iisalmi.

In 1998 it received permanent status by the Finnish Government. 1. January 2004 Pohjois-Savo Polytechnic was renamed to Savonia University of Applied Sciences (Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulu). Provided by Wikipedia