The goal of the Elite Athlete Friendly University (EAFU) quality model is to improve elite and professional athletes’ chances of pursuing higher education studies in a way that supports their athletic development.

Student athletes’ well-being and ability to study are closely linked to how successfully they can combine sports and studies into a balanced whole. Lapland University of Applied Sciences (Lapland UAS) supports the dual career of athletes by offering flexible study opportunities, personal study paths and high-quality student counselling to make students’ daily lives smoother.

According to the Finnish Olympic Committee, Lapland UAS is a pioneer especially when it comes to online and hybrid studies.

“At Lapland UAS, we have long been improving study counselling to ensure it considers students’ diverse needs and life situations. Flexible study opportunities, alternative completion methods and other individual arrangements provide excellent conditions for taking student athletes’ needs into account”, says Manager Jaana Huovinen, Chief of Lapland UAS’ EAFU working group.

Close collaboration with Lapland Sports Academy

Lapland UAS is committed to improving student athletes’ dual careers together with Lapland Sports Academy.

Those working with athletes must have a solid understanding of the daily life of both individual and team sports elite athletes. According to Reijo Jylhä, Head of Lapland Sports Academy, this is visible especially in how Lapland UAS has engaged their teachers and experts in this topic.

The main duty of Lapland Sports Academy is to comprehensively support athletes in their training and studies, as well as to offer diverse expertise and a high-quality training environment for the athletes. Lapland UAS, on the other hand, helps athletes with recognising the expertise they gain from doing sports, and after they complete their degrees, Lapland UAS helps them with their career transition together with the sports academy.

“For the sports academy, working with Lapland UAS has been very active and productive as we have come up with content and pushed this project forward together. I have a feeling this could create an exciting opportunity for Lapland UAS to support the dual career of student athletes”, says Jylhä.

Six evaluation areas in the quality model

The evaluation of elite athlete friendly universities is based on a quality model that includes six evaluation areas and 23 quality factors. These factors are related to, among other things, personal study guidance, flexible study arrangements, recognition of learning acquired through sports and sports academy collaboration. One of the key goals is to facilitate the athletes’ transition to higher education students after completing their secondary education.

The Finnish Olympic Committee audited Lapland UAS in the autumn of 2024. The audits are inclusive and interactive, and they help higher education institutions to recognise their strengths, good practices and development areas. The quality label was awarded to Lapland UAS in May 2025. Finland has now 11 elite athlete friendly universities.

More information

Lapland University of Applied Sciences, Manager, Jaana Huovinen
jaana.huovinen@lapinamk.fi, tel. +358 40 564 1942

Lapland Sports Academy, Head of Lapland Sports Academy, Reijo Jylhä, reijo.jylha@santasport.fi, tel. +358 40 168 0553