The Nordic Summer University operations and activities are mainly financed by the people of the Nordic and Baltic States, through in-kind contributions of their voluntary time, and by participation fees. Up until 2020, part of the activities were funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Most of the winter symposia are organised in collaboration with partners of the NSU, as documented in the annual reports.

The following institutions are some of the collaborating partners of the Nordic Summer University:

University of Latvia

European Humanities University

University of Akureyri

Islandic Academy of the arts

Aarhus University

University of Copenhagen