Being part of the Central Ostobothnia Region, Kokkola city is located in the Province of Western Finland. It is also a municipality with over 40,000 people.

The formal higher education system of Finland is the 7-3-2-2 pattern. The university takes two years in vocational or technical education and finally two-year pre-tertiary education. Finland also has several public as well as private universities that have enabled accessibility of higher education to students.

The MSc, or Master of Science, is an internationally recognized academic degree that indicates proficiency and knowledge of a given topic or field. Most MSc programs take about four years to finish, after which some join the workforce while others continue on in the classroom.