The Open University gateway as a bridge between open and degree education

Authors

• Nina Haltia Turun yliopisto

Abstract

During its whole history, Finnish Open University education has had to negotiate its relation to degree education. It is not possible to take a degree in the Open University, but the so-called Open University gateway has been created in order to open a study path from the Open University to degree studies at the faculty. The article analyses the history of the Open University gateway and how policy makers, the academic community and other significant actors have discussed it. The data consists of different kinds of documents and public texts concerning the Open University and its gateway. The findings suggest that whereas policy actors have taken initiatives to widen the gateway, the academic community has strongly resisted this kind of ideas. This also partly explains why the gateway has remained such a narrow route to a degree, especially in some fields of study.