Rules

Free studies

• In order to study for free, a student must complete courses in his/her study programme in the amount of 30 ECTS credit points; tuition fee must be paid for the lacking credit points at the end of each semester.
• A student completes the nominal workload if he/she completes courses in the amount of 30 ECTS credit points in a semester.
• The credit points are calculated cumulatively after each semester. The required workload is 30 ECTS credit points per semester.
• Full-time students who have commenced studies free of charge in a study programme taught in Estonian or English, including at a student place funded by tuition fee waiver scholarship, who fail to complete the required cumulative semester load by the end of the semester, shall pay tuition fee in the amount of 44 euros for each lacking credit point.

As an exception, tuition fee for lacking points shall not be paid by a student that has commenced full-time free studies in a study programme taught in Estonian and is a parent or a guardian of a child under the age of 7 years or of a child with a disability, a person with moderate, severe or profound disability or has fully or partially lost his/her capacity for work. Such a student can study for free provided that he/she completes the study programme in the amount of at least 15 ECTS credit points each semester. For this purpose, the supporting documents must be submitted to the dean’s office of the school at the beginning of the semester.  

In the first semester, a student must declare and complete courses in his/her study programme in the amount of at least 15 ECTS credit points.
NB! The credit points awarded through APEL shall not be counted towards completion of the required workload of 15 ECTS credit points! 

A student who fails to complete at least 15 ECTS credit points in the first semester loses his/her student place and will be exmatriculated.

During the course of the semester, in the event of voluntary disenrollment, the applicable fees for credit points shall be as follows:

• For students enrolled in Estonian-language programs, who are entitled to tuition-free education, submitting a voluntary exmatriculation request during the semester, after more than 70 days have elapsed since the beginning of the semester, entails payment for the credit points of all declared but yet-to-be-completed courses for the current semester at the rate of 44 euros per credit point.
• Similarly, for students enrolled in English-language programs, who are entitled to tuition-free education, submitting a voluntary exmatriculation request during the semester, after the deadline for submission of the semester curriculum, necessitates payment for the credit points of all declared but yet-to-be-completed courses for the current semester at the rate of 44 euros per credit point.

Self-paid studies

In order to secure a student place, a student shall complete courses in his/her study programme in the amount of at least 15 ECTS credit points per each semester.
Tuition fee shall be paid by students who:

• are studying part-time;
• have previously studied at the same level of higher education for free and the triple (or double in case of the integrated study programmes) nominal duration of the study programme has not passed from commencement of studies; 
• re-commence studies in the same study programme (have studied less than fifty per cent of the nominal duration of the study programme) and less than two years have passed from exmatriculation.

Tuition fee rates

The university establishes the rates and the terms and conditions of payment of tuition fee by the Senate’s resolution for each academic year at least four months before the beginning of the academic year. The university has the right to increase the tuition fee rate by ten percent each academic year from the fee rate in the previous academic year.

• In part-time studies, tuition fee shall be paid based on the credit point price, depending on the amount of the courses declared by the student for the semester.
• In full-time studies, a tuition fee shall be paid based on the credit point price or a semester fee shall be paid based on the established fee rates.

Study load

A student shall choose his/her study load upon admission. At the end of each academic year, the university reviews the credit points completed by the student and recalculates the student’s study load for the next academic year based on the credit points. A study load is determined based on the courses in the study programme completed by the student and the number of semesters attended by the student.

• Nominal load   30 ECTS credit points per each semester attended
• Full-time load   22.5 - 30 ECTS credit points per each semester attended
• Part-time load   15 - 22 ECTS credit points per each semester attended

A student shall be transferred from full-time study to part-time study at the end of an academic year if the student has not completed courses in the amount of at least 22.5 ECTS credit points per each attended semester.
Transfer from full-time study does not release the student from the obligation to pay for the credit points lacking in the previous semester.

Academic calendar

• All the important deadlines related to studies are laid down in the academic calendar.

• Each School has the right to specify the time schedule (e.g. the schedule related to graduation).

Declaring and completing a course

• Each course can be declared free of charge twice.

• A declaration is valid for one semester, i.e. the assessments and examinations must be passed in the semester for which you declared.

• A course ending with an examination shall have three dates for taking an examination, a student can take an examination twice. The last result shall apply.

• An extended course description shall include information on how the result of the course is formed and the deadlines.

Declaring a thesis, submitting a defence application

• The graduation thesis must be declared by the student for the upcoming semester, which the student undertakes to defend the thesis. 
• A student who has agreed on a supervisor and a thesis topic shall include them in the individual study plan. If a student does not have a thesis topic and a supervisor when declaring a thesis, the student shall submit the individual study plan without the abovementioned data.
• It is possible to add or change the thesis topic and the name of the supervisor on defence application until the submission deadline set out in the academic calendar.
• In order for a graduation thesis to be admitted for defence, a student shall submit a defence application via SIS by the deadline set out in the academic calendar. It is enabled only if the thesis has been declared. 

APEL

• For accreditation of prior and experiential learning for the completion of a study programme an APEL application needs to be submitted in the study information system ÕIS.

• Starting from 01.08.2020 (only the applications submitted starting from 01.08.2020)  the credit points taken into account through accreditation of prior and experiential learning, including continuing education courses, shall be counted towards completion of a study load.

• Credit points acquired from APEL are counted toward completion of a study programme.

• A fee is charged for APEL, except in case of applying for accreditation of courses completed in TalTech after 1 September 1995.

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Academic leave

• Read more here!

A student is exmatriculated during studies in the following cases:

• upon graduation in connection with the completion of a study programme in full

• the student fails to submit the individual study plan/declaration by the prescribed deadline

• at the student's own request (an application must be submitted in the study information system ÕIS)

• the student has accumulated less than 15 ECTC credit points in the first semester

• the student has failed to fulfil the part-time load requirement by the end of the academic year

• due to contemptible conduct

• the student has not paid the tuition fee