Cuts to STEA grants also affect mental health support for students

6.10.2026

Cuts to STEA grants for social welfare and health organisations are also affecting the work of Nyyti ry and the organisation’s efforts to support students’ mental health.

Like many other organisations, Nyyti ry has had to review and adjust its operations. At Nyyti ry, the staff reductions amount to a total of 5.2 full-time equivalent positions and affect seven (7) employees. Five (5) employment relationships will end, either because a fixed-term employment contract cannot be renewed or because of termination of employment. Two (2) employees will move to part-time employment.

As a result of the staff reductions, Nyyti ry’s activities related to promoting students’ mental health will be reduced, and the organisation will lose important and valuable expertise and professional skills.

At Nyyti, we know that students need low-threshold mental health support. We hear how worries about the future, loneliness and anxiety are weighing on students. We want to help and will continue to do our best, although with fewer resources than before, says Minna Savolainen, Executive Director of Nyyti ry.

Savolainen continues:

Cuts to STEA grants for social welfare and health organisations will not save public finances or help people feel more confident about the future. The decision is short-sighted and undermines democracy, and it will not even result in savings. The costs will simply show up in different lines of the state budget in the future – and undoubtedly as larger sums. The Government of Finland could have chosen differently.