Aalto Aalto University is a university located in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, formed by the merger of Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki School of Economics and Helsinki University of Art and Design.

The founding of the University of Alto is in line with the higher education reform that Finland has implemented in recent years, especially the reform of higher education institutions. The higher education reform, especially the restructuring of higher education institutions is closely related. One of the university's goals is to become one of the world's leading research and teaching institutions in its key fields of study by 2020. In 2004, a working group led by Anne Brunila of the Finnish Ministry of Finance pointed out that Finland now has too many universities and research institutions that need to be integrated and unified. The idea of merging the universities and research institutions to form the University of Alto was proposed by Yrjö Sotamaa, the then president of the Helsinki University of Art and Design, at the opening ceremony in 2005.

Sotamaa believes that this move could create a unique multi-disciplinary intersection of "innovative university". In 2007, the plan to merge the three universities in the capital region was launched and became an important step in the process of reforming higher education in Finland.

On May 29, 2008, the government announced that the newly merged university would be named in honor and memory of Alvar Aalto, a renowned Finnish architect who made significant contributions to the fields of science, economics and the arts. Many of the buildings on the campus of the former Helsinki University of Technology are the work of Alvar Aalto. On June 25, 2008, Finnish Minister of Education Sari Sarkomaa and representatives of the Finnish business community signed the Charter of the University of Alto in Helsinki, and on August 15, the Board of Directors of the Alto University Foundation was established with seven members. On December 19, the Board of Trustees nominated Tula Terry, a Finn who is currently the Vice Rector of the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, as the first Rector of Alto University.

Alto University began operations on January 1, 2010, and in the process of creating the University, the Finnish University Act was rewritten to allow the University Foundation to raise donations from all sectors. The Alto University Foundation will raise 700 million euros by 2010; 500 million from the Finnish government and 200 million coordinated by the Finnish Chamber of Commerce and Industry from the business community.