Higher education in media education is disappearing from Finland

According to our recent report, from 2027 onward it will no longer be possible to study media education as a major subject at Finnish universities, and nearly all minor subject modules have been discontinued. Media education teaching is also limited in universities of applied sciences.

The situation is peculiar, because the availability of education and societal need seem to be moving in opposite directions. Both in Finland and in the EU, the need for media literacy is being strongly emphasised, whether the issue is cultural participation, comprehensive security, or the strengthening of democracy. Finland has also enjoyed a strong reputation as a pioneer in media education.

The skills shortage is already visible and will worsen in the future

At Kuvi, we have long been aware that the state of media education training looks poor. In concrete terms, we have seen this in the fact that fewer applicants for internships or expert positions have completed extensive studies in media education. Recently, we have also received the same message from other organisations in the field.

The situation will worsen in the future. The last master’s programme in media education will end at the University of Lapland in 2027, and the minor subject module at the University of Eastern Finland will end in 2026. After that, the University of Lapland will be left with the field’s last remaining standalone minor subject module.

Typically, students are offered only individual courses, which limits the development of expertise. Integrating media education to a small extent into different degree programmes is also important, but it does not produce strong expertise specifically in media education. At the same time, the number of theses and doctoral researchers is small, which erodes the educational and research foundation of the field.

The situation has deteriorated rapidly, because as recently as the 2010s media education could be studied as a major subject at two universities and as a minor subject at others, too. In my own case, for example, my path to becoming a media education professional went like this: I became interested in media education because it was offered as a minor subject. I got access to work in the field through my studies and related internship. Later, I began writing a doctoral dissertation on media education encouraged and supervised by a professor of media education. Now, my former university no longer has media education as either a minor or major subject, and soon it will no longer even have a professor.

Of course, media education work can be carried out with many different educational backgrounds. But if students who have studied media education extensively are no longer graduating at all, this will inevitably have an impact on the development of the field.

Behind the trend are funding cuts and structural reforms

The reduction in education has been influenced by, among other things, funding cuts and structural changes in higher education institutions. The emphasis on rapid graduation has reduced students’ opportunities to choose studies like media education, which are often optional.

The decline in resources has made development and cooperation more difficult, and media education staff numbers continue to decrease, for example through retirements. Soon we may find ourselves in a situation where there is hardly anyone left to organise media education teaching and defend even the little that remains.

Continuing education is also under threat. For example, state funding for in-service training for teaching staff was abolished in 2025, which has directly weakened the opportunities for teachers already in the profession to update their media literacy skills. Where will we get experts in the future if media education can no longer be studied at any stage of a career?

What is needed to secure expertise?

The memorandum drawn up on the basis of the report lists concrete recommendations for safeguarding expertise and education. By increasing cooperation between higher education institutions, media education studies could be offered more widely than at present as joint study modules. At the same time, permanent structures are needed for continuing education so that professionals in different fields can update their expertise in a changing media environment.

Media education expertise must also be made more visible in working life so that its significance is better recognised in recruitment and competence requirements.

Above all, however, correcting the situation requires that media literacy and the media education that promotes it be recognised as strategic areas of expertise and that their status in higher education be strengthened.

Saara Salomaa, PhD, Head of the Media Education Unit, Finnish Arts and Culture Agency Kuvi

The report and its recommendations are based on discussion events organised by the Arts and Culture Agency Kuvi in January 2026 for higher education staff, as well as related data collection. We warmly thank everyone who participated.

Read the policy brief on the report: https://medialukutaitosuomessa.fi/laitisalomaa2026.pdf