Higher earnings-related pension for graduates | Our Services | KelaSkip to content

Higher earnings-related pension for graduates

If you graduate with a degree your earnings-related pension when you retire can be larger.

Eligibility

Degrees which count towards the pension are

  • bachelor's and master's level university degrees
  • bachelor's and master's level degrees earned in a university of applied sciences
  • a basic vocational qualification.

Further requirements are that

  • you earned the degree on or after 1 January 2005
  • you were between 18 and 67 years old when you graduated and
  • you have been in paid employment which provides you with an earnings-related pension.

You can earn a pension also for a degree you complete outside Finland if you received financial aid from Finland towards that degree.

You can accrue a pension by completing a degree even if you are not a Finnish citizen or you are not covered by the Finnish social security system.

Amount and payment

The total amount of your earnings-related pension depends on how long you have been working and what your earnings have been.

There is a fixed pension accrual period for each degree. The time you take to graduate does not affect the amount of your pension. You can accrue a pension for up to five years for any number of degrees you complete.

The final amount of your pension will be calculated when you retire. The table below shows the amount of pension accrued from the degrees you have completed if you were to retire in 2022. The final amount of your pension will be higher due to index adjustments.

DegreeAccrual periodAmount of pension *
Master's level degree earned in a university or a university of applied sciences5 years€58.95 per month
Bachelor's level degree earned in a university of applied sciences4 years€47.16 per month
Basic vocational qualification or bachelor's level university degree3 years€35.37 per month

* In 2022, completing a degree accrues pension at a monthly rate of €0.98. 

No pension accrues for periods

  • when you were under 18 years of age
  • in which you were paid a pension
  • preceding 1 January 2005.
    • If you began a course of study before 1 January 2005 but graduated after that date, you accrue a pension for the months of active study beginning with January 2005.

Read more

Last modified 12/7/2023