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If you did not complete your degree within the time that was granted to you, you may apply for an extension (extended time) to your right to study. Extensions are approved for the purpose of completing a degree. That means you should apply for an extension only if you have the intention and the possibility to complete your thesis and remaining studies.

Before submitting an application, familiarise yourself with the Aalto University policy on extensions to the duration of studies.

If your right to study will expire at the end of the current academic term, Sisu’s frontpage will notify you about it and you will receive instructions on how to apply for an extension. You can ensure that your application will be processed before your right to study expires if you follow the instructions and apply by the given deadline (15 May or 15 November). The Sisu Instructions include information on how to apply for an extension.

Sisu link:  

Applying for an extension in Sisu: a summary of the steps

1. Sisu’s frontpage will notify you if your right to study will expire at the end of the current academic term.
2. If you are unable to graduate by the end of the term, apply for an extension:
   • Update or create your primary study plan in Sisu.
   • Schedule the courses you still need to complete by putting them on your Sisu ‘timeline’. You cannot apply for extension without scheduling your remaining courses.
3. Fill in the extension application and submit it.
4. Submit any appendices that, need to be submitted outside the Sisu system, according to instructions.
   • Master’s degree students: If your thesis is still in progress, ask your thesis supervisor for a free-form statement on its progress and on the schedule for completing it. Include the statement as an attachment to the application.
5. Pay the processing fee of €50. The application will not be processed until the fee is paid.
6. Sisu will inform you of the decision to approve or reject your application.

Please note that each school has its own schedule for processing extension applications. They process the applications only a few times a year, usually in May–June and November–December.

Failing to enrol, losing a study right and applying for an extension

You will lose your right to study towards a degree if you do not enrol as attending or non-attending for the academic year.

If you still have statutory study time left, you can apply for a return of your study right  you have lost. Note that study time continues to be consumed  even for any period when you did not enrol as attending or non-attending.

If you lose your study right because the statutory study time or a previously granted extension has expired and you wish to continue your studies, you only need to apply for an extension to your study right, not for return of your study right.

• You can apply for an extension to the study right later than the term when your study time ends.
• You can also apply for an extension again even if a previous application was rejected. In such a case, it is advisable to first contact your programmes’ Learning Services to discuss continuing your studies.

If you originally lost your right to study towards a degree because you neglected to enrol for an academic year and therefore your study time ended, you only need to apply for an extension to the study right. Hence, there is no need to separately apply for a return of the study right; rather, the return of the study right is considered together with the granting of an extension to the study right. You only pay one processing fee for the extension application.

When are extension applications not submitted in Sisu, and when can no extension applications be submitted at all? 

Generally, if you can log in to Sisu, you should make your extension application in Sisu.

Sisu is usually not used to submit extension applications in the following cases:

• Your Aalto username has expired and you cannot log in to Sisu.

In that case, you must (1) make a study plan, (2) schedule the courses you need to complete, and (3) apply for an extension. All three are done outside of Sisu. Contact the Learning Services staff of your programme.

• Your education path is personalised (which is rare) and your right to study has expired. In such cases, Sisu cannot be used in the normal way to apply for an extension.
  • Go to Sisu and make a study plan and schedule the courses you need to complete. Even though the status of your study plan will read ‘Selections against the rules’, this information is useful for the administrative staff who will process your application.
  • You need to apply for the extension outside of Sisu. Contact the Learning Services staff of your programme.
  • To find out whether your education path has been personalised:  See Sisu’s information on your study rights by going to Education path and checking to see whether Personalised appears next to your degree. 

You cannot apply for an extension at all if:

• Sisu shows the status of your study right to be cancelled, renounced or graduated,
• You do not intend to graduate from Aalto University using the given study right, or
• Your statutory right to study will expire later than the end of the current term.

Instructions on paying the processing fee

First, apply for an extension to your right to study as instructed by your school.

1. Instructions on paying the processing fee:
   • Pay the processing fee only after you have submitted your application for an extension. The fee is non-refundable.
   • Go to the  and fill in the requested details.
     • Please note: Regardless of who pays the processing fee, fill in the details of the student whose application the fee concerns.
   • Check the box beside Payment to see the sum charged.
   • Proceed to the payment stage by clicking Register.
2. Making the payment:
   • Click on ‘Make payment’ to proceed to choosing the payment method.
   • Choose the payment method and make the payment. Finally, add the email address where you want the payment receipt sent.
3. Confirmation:
   • You will receive a confirmation of your payment being registered and later a receipt by email of your payment

Link for paying: