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If you receive other benefits

You cannot get financial aid in the following situations:

  • You receive financial aid from abroad or from the Åland Islands.
  • You are paid adult education allowance. However you can get a government guarantee for a student loan.
  • You are in apprenticeship training or labour market training.
  • You are paid unemployment allowance or labour market subsidy.
  • You are on job alternation leave and are paid a job alternation compensation.
  • You are paid a pension or a farm closure compensation/subsidy. However, it is possible to receive both a survivor's pension and financial aid, but the survivor's pension is considered as income for purposes of the financial aid income check.
  • You are paid rehabilitation allowance for the same course of education.
  • You are paid rehabilitation allowance on account of an accident at work or an occupational disease.
  • You receive a full compensation for loss of income during a period of rehabilitation compensated on the grounds of an injury.
  • You are performing conscript or alternative service or voluntary armed service.
  • You are serving a sentence of imprisonment and are studying while in prison.
  • You are paid a sickness allowance, a partial sickness allowance or an allowance for organ donors.

Child benefit

If you are under 17 years of age, you can get a supplementary allowance for the purchase of study materials to the study grant. However, if you are entitled to free education, you cannot get the supplementary allowance. You cannot get any other kind of study grant because child benefit is paid for you. When you reach the age of 17, you can be paid a study grant from the beginning of the calendar month following your birthday.

The child benefit can be cancelled on the request of the recipient of the child benefit, i.e. your parent. If no child benefit is paid for you, you can receive study grant. However, please note that if you live with your parents, their income may however reduce your study grant or prevent you from getting it. You can estimate your student financial aid with this online calculator (in Finnish). Enter 17 years as your age in the calculator, if the child benefit paid for you has been terminated.

If you live independently and you are under 17 years of age, you may also be granted a state guarantee for a student loan. If you receive financial aid for students, you can also receive general housing allowance. A housing supplement can be granted to the student financial aid if you study abroad or in the Åland Islands, or if you study in a tuition-based study programme at a folk high school and live in the school dormitory.

Daily allowance from school

If you receive daily allowance for the period of study from your school, you cannot receive a study grant, but you may qualify for a loan guarantee. This applies to those who pursue

  • a Bachelor’s degree in military sciences at the National Defence University
  • the basic course for border guards at the Border and Coast Guard Academy during the first part of the training.

Other students at the National Defence University and the Border and Coast Guard Academy can only be granted a loan guarantee if they receive a study grant or an adult education allowance.

You may be able to get a general housing allowance if you cannot live in a school dormitory for a specific reason.

Family benefits

You can be paid a paternity, pregnancy or parental allowance or child home care allowance at the same time as financial aid for students. 

Taxable family benefits, such as daily allowances for parents and the child home care allowance, count as income for purposes of the financial aid income check. The child benefit is tax free and therefore does not count as income.

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Last modified 1/3/2024