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This article examines the prevalence of preparation courses and applying for higher education and how interdependent they are across different fields as well as the different backgrounds of higher education students. Our research material consisted of Finland's Eurostudent VII data, which comprises information on education statistics provided by Vipunen, the education administration's reporting portal, on the number of applicants in different fields of education in relation to the number of student intake. Our research has two main objectives. Firstly, we examined the motives of students to study at a higher education institution and, secondly, how applicants’ motives for applying are linked to preparation courses. Based on the results, the extent to which students were motivated by the desire to support the wellbeing of others through their studies showed the clearest divisions between students in different fields of education. Similarly, student motivation based on parents' expectations was stronger among international students pursuing a degree and among the children of parents with a higher level of education. Helping others, on the one hand, and an orientation focusing on improving their own position in the job market, on the other, were stronger among those who gained a student place through a preparation course, even though the student's field of study, the parents' education and the age at which the student started studying were standardised. Those who took preparation courses secured a student place faster after upper secondary school. In fields of study where there are application pressures, i.e. where there are a lot more applicants than student places available, about half of the students in economics and business administration and three out of four in the fields of law and medicine took part in preparation courses. |
