Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Business Studies, Finland is a melting pot of students coming from all over the world. According to a research done in the autumn 2009, the student body of the Faculty consist of more than 100 foreign degree students coming from 19 different countries. These students basically carry out all of their studies in Finland, and therefore it would be a great advantage for the Finnish society and companies if they would also stay in Finland after their graduation. Unfortunately only a minority of the foreign students actually do stay in Finland having received their degrees. Most of them return to their home countries. This is a fact that should be changed. The expertise of the students should be available for the local and global companies also after their graduation. Therefore the main research question of the study under scrutiny was formulated to be: How to integrate the foreign degree students into the Finnish school system and society more effectively and consequently, how to also make them stay in Finland after their graduation? The objective of the study was based on the research questions and was set to be the construction of a qualitative integration plan for the foreign degree students of the faculty. The integration plan was decided to be limited to school, study life, and work related issues. These topics were seen as factors the university could affect. The social welfare, healthcare, and similar issues were ruled out from the study. The theoretical framework of the study has its foundation in the first Finnish integration law, Act on the Integration of Immigrants and Reception of Asylum Seekers, that came into force in 1999. This first integration law and its updated version from year 2005 give rules and guidance for the integration actions and procedures of different municipalities. The law sets the limits what can and should be done in order to enhance the integration of various types of immigrants. While setting the limits for the municipalities, the law also sets the limits and boundaries for all different actors operating in the integration field, including the universities. (Act on the Integration of Immigrants and Reception of Asylum Seekers 493/1999; Act on the Integration of Immigrants and Reception of Asylum Seekers 1215/2005.). In addition to the integration law, the theoretical background of the study was based on reviewing the integration actions of various different actors. For example, Canada has been the forerunner in integrating its immigrants to its society. Thus the adopted integration measures of Canada were studied. Moreover, to get a clearer picture of different integration measures already used in Finland, the integration actions of different municipalities and universities were studied. (See for example: Citizenship and Immigration Canada 2009; The Integration Programme of Lahti 1999; The Monitoring Report of the Integration Programme of Lahti 2006; The Integration Programme of Helsinki 1999; The Monitoring Report of the Integration Programme of Helsinki 2007; Byman & Ramberg 2008.).

The gathering of the theoretical framework was done as a desk research reviewing the Finnish integration laws and several information sources of various actors performing integration operations. The theoretical information was used to give advice which integration measures to include in the integration plan of the university. The university also wished to take into account the opinions of its current foreign degree students. Therefore an internet survey targeted at the foreign degree students was conducted as well. The target of the survey was to receive the students’ opinions on how they saw they had been integrated before and how the university should develop its future integration operations. Moreover, the experiences of other Universities of Applied Sciences were used in designing the plan. The information used was gathered in a seminar organized in October 2009, discussing issues linked with the different English speaking programmes of the Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences.

Based on the information gathered through the desk research, survey, and seminar, a preliminary integration plan of the university was designed. The integration actions of the plan are versatile, starting from the student recruitment and ending at the students’ permanent integration into the Finnish society. The plan is divided into three parts: 1) integration measures to be taken before the students arrive in Finland, 2) integration measures during the studies and study life, and 3) integration measures aiming at the permanent integration into the Finnish society in the form of finding a permanent work place in Finland. The integration plan assigns duties both for the university itself and the surrounding community. The plan designed is preliminary and it should be updated as the experience grows. Moreover, a person responsible for the management of the integration actions should be named in order that the plan could be successfully executed. All the persons involved in the integration operations should be clear of their responsibilities and should be motivated to do their tasks. The road towards the permanent integration is long and demanding. However, persistent work can lead to rewarding end results.