Abo Akademi University: Finland

The present Åbo Akademi University is a medium-size, state-run, multidisciplinary and Swedish-language university, celebrating its establishment in 1918. The first Academy in Åbo was founded in 1640. The re-established University was greatly influenced by the model from the Swedish period and its aim was to strengthen Swedish culture in Finland.

Wish of the main donors
In 1918, a group of wealthy persons in Åbo and its surroundings donated funds for the establishment of a Swedish university. It was to be a multidisciplinary seat of learning and thus its first professors were humanists, natural scientists and political scientists. The first students were admitted in January 1919.

Professional studies
The donors also saw the need for Swedish-speaking engineers, clergymen and economists. Consequently, within a few years, education in these fields was also commenced.

Development after the Second World War
The post-war economic situation was dire, and the Åbo Akademi University Endowment encountered problems in financing the activities of the University. The first state subsidy was granted in 1951 and state funding became permanent in 1963. The University became fully state-run in 1981.

New fields of education
In the 1950s, the educational fields in Åbo were supplemented with programmes in pharmacy and psychology. A reform of teacher education resulted in Åbo Akademi establishing a unit in Vasa in 1974. In the early 1990s, caring science and political science were added to the fields taught in Vasa and training of Associates in Law was introduced in Åbo. The student body grew tenfold between the years 1952 and 1995, and today it numbers 7,000.

Contact us
Åbo Akademi University
Postal address:
Åbo Akademi University
Tuomiokirkontori 3
FI-20500 TURKU
FINLAND
Phone: +358 2 215 31

Åbo Akademi University in Vaasa
Postal address:
Åbo Akademi University in Vaasa
Po Box 311
FI-65101 VAASA
FINLAND
Phone: +358 6 324 7111
http://www.abo.fi/