Financial aid for students

Financial aid for studies pursued in Finland is available to Finnish citizens and, under certain conditions, to citizens of other countries.

The Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela provides students with a Study Grant and a Housing Supplement (both monthly). The student financial aid system also includes student loans guaranteed by the state.

More information

Financial aid for students https://www.kela.fi/web/en/financial-aid-for-students
Housing supplement https://www.kela.fi/web/en/financial-aid-for-students-housing-supplement

Study progress

In order to get financial aid, you must make satisfactory progress with your studies. Your progress is regarded as satisfactory if your period of full-time study does not substantially exceed the standard study time for your course of study. If you do not make satisfactory progress, Kela can make your financial aid payable for a specified period of time only or stop payment altogether. Financial aid can be recovered by Kela if it is discovered that your study progress has been particularly slow and if it is evident that you never intended to study at all.

If you are in higher education you must complete

• at least 5 credits on average for each month of financial aid and
• at least 20 credits in each academic year (the minimum requirement)

For more information, see Study progress in higher education https://www.kela.fi/web/en/study-progress-higher-education

Income

Your income affects the number of months per year for which you can get financial aid. You must make sure that you do not exceed a set limit for annual income.

For more information, see Student's own income https://www.kela.fi/web/en/income-own-income

Meal subsidy

If you are in higher education, you are eligible for discounted meals at participating student restaurants. The subsidy is deducted from the price of the meal at the student restaurant. You pay the discounted price.

You can qualify even if you are not a Finnish citizen. If you are attending a higher education institution in Finland as an exchange student, you qualify for the meal subsidy for the duration of your exchange.

Go to the student restaurant finder to see which student restaurants participate in the meal subsidy programme. https://www.kela.fi/web/en/meal-subsidy-student-restaurants

See also

You can get financial aid for summer study https://www.kela.fi/web/en/financial-aid-for-students-maximum-period-of-eligibility

You are completing a course of study abroad https://www.kela.fi/web/en/financial-aid-for-students-if-you-study-abroad

If you fall ill, you can take a sick leave https://www.kela.fi/web/en/eligibility-sickness

Extension of the period of eligibility for financial aid https://www.kela.fi/web/en/extension-to-financial-aid

Additional information

Kela’s financial aid helpline for students 020 634 2550, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 15:00

e-Services https://www.kela.fi/web/en/e-services

Ask online about student financial aid: www.kela.fi/kysy-kelasta (in Finnish)

Book an appointment https://www.kela.fi/web/en/book-a-time

You can visit any Kela's customer service point.