How many months of student financial aid can you get?
If you are enrolled in an institution of higher education, you can usually get 9 months of student financial aid in each academic year from September to May. You can also apply to be paid financial aid for a longer or shorter period of time. If you study during the summer, you can apply to be paid financial aid during the summer months. In Finland, the academic year begins on 1 August and ends on 31 July.
You can get student financial aid starting from the first month in which you actively study for at least 18 days. When you finish your studies, you will still be paid financial aid for the last month in which you have 18 days of active study. Weekends and mid-week holidays are included in the number of days of active study.
When does your first or last month of study have 18 days of active study?
Joona studies at a university of applied sciences where the academic year begins on 27 August. As Joona only has 5 days of active study in August (27–31 August), he cannot get financial aid in August. If he graduates on 20 May, he can be paid financial aid in May because he will have 20 days of active study in that month (1–20 May). All in all, Joona can get financial aid from the beginning of September to the end of May.
How many months of financial aid can you get?
If you are completing a degree in higher education, the number of student financial aid months you can get depends on the scope of your degree programme and when you began your first course of study in higher education. Your course of study is considered to have begun when you first registered as attending in an institution of higher education.
You can calculate the maximum aid period available to you like this:
- Completing 60 credits or one academic year gives you the right to 9 months of financial aid.
- Completing 30 credits or half an academic year gives you the right to 5 months of financial aid if you have completed a full academic year before this or will complete a full academic year after this.
- An additional 3–10 months of financial aid will be added to this amount depending on when you began your first course of study in an institution of higher education.
The maximum aid period is the maximum number of months of student financial aid you have access to during your studies. It is calculated based on the amount of credits included in your degree and when you began your studies.
The regular degree completion time or the target duration means the amount of time in which you are expected to complete your degree. You can contact your institution of higher education to check the regular completion time of your degree.
Financial aid months mean the months for which you are paid either the study grant or the housing supplement for students or both. If you select Tukikuukaudet (Student financial aid months) in the OmaKela e-service, you can see how many months of student financial aid you have already used during your higher education studies and how many months you still have left. You can see these numbers under Tukikuukaudet (Student financial aid months) if you have been paid student financial aid in the current year or in the past 2 years.
Any financial aid you are paid while enrolled in upper secondary education does not affect the number of financial aid months you can get for your studies in institutions of higher education. The reverse is also true: any student financial aid you are paid while enrolled in higher education does not affect the number of financial aid months you can get for upper secondary education.
The number of financial aid months available for studies at a university of applied sciences
You can initially get financial aid for the target duration of the degree you are studying for at a university of applied sciences. If you do not complete your degree within the regular completion time but you still have financial aid months left, you can apply to be granted these remaining months of financial aid in OmaKela. The earliest that you can get financial aid is from the beginning of the month in which your application arrived at Kela.
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 3 months of financial aid. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
| Scope of the degree programme | Maximum aid period |
| 60 credits | 12 months |
| 90 credits | 17 months |
| 120 credits | 21 months |
| 180 credits | 30 months |
| 210 credits | 35 months |
| 240 credits | 39 months |
| 270 credits | 44 months |
The degrees that require under 180 credits are second-cycle degrees completed at a university of applied sciences.
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 5 months of financial aid. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 10 months of financial aid. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
Number of financial aid months available for studies at a university when you are enrolled to complete both a first-cycle degree (bachelor’s degree) and a second-cycle degree (master’s degree)
If you are enrolled in a university to complete both a first-cycle degree and a second-cycle degree, you initially get financial aid for the duration of the first-cycle degree. You can get financial aid for the second-cycle degree only after you have completed the first-cycle degree.
Even though you are granted financial aid separately for these two degrees, you can only get financial aid for the combined maximum aid period allocated for both degrees. This means that if you use a lot of financial aid months to complete the first-cycle degree, you will have fewer months of financial aid left to use towards the second-cycle degree.
Conversely, if you use few months of financial aid to complete the first-cycle degree, you have the maximum number of financial aid months available for the second-cycle degree. However, any months of financial aid left over from the first-cycle degree do not increase the maximum aid period available for the second-cycle degree.
The number of financial aid months available for the second-cycle degree can be determined only after you have completed the first-cycle degree.
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 3 months of financial aid.
| Total scope of the degree programme | Maximum aid period in total |
| 300 credits | 48 months, of which a maximum of 30 months is available for the first-cycle degree and a maximum of 21 months for the second-cycle degree |
330 credits (M.Sc.Psych, MMus, Licentiate of Dentistry) | 53 months, of which a maximum of 30 months is available for the first-cycle degree and a maximum of 26 months for the second-cycle degree |
330 credits (Master of Fine Arts) | 53 months, of which a maximum of 35 months is available for the first-cycle degree and a maximum of 21 months for the second-cycle degree |
| 360 credits (Licentiate of Veterinary Medicine, Licentiate of Medicine) | 57 months, of which a maximum of 30 months is available for the first-cycle degree and a maximum of 30 months for the second-cycle degree |
Some degree programmes may carry exceptions to the number of financial aid months available to you. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
The maximum aid period is 57 months also when you are enrolled in a foreign institution of higher education to complete a degree or degrees with a regular completion time of at least 6 academic years.
Example: Maximum aid period if you are completing both a first-cycle degree and a second-cycle degree
Eetu is enrolled in an institution of higher education to complete both a first- and a second-cycle degree. The maximum aid period available for his first-cycle degree is 30 months (180 credits) while the maximum aid period available for his second-cycle degree is 21 months (120 credits). However, the combined maximum number of financial aid months available to Eetu is 48 months.
If Eetu uses a maximum of 27 months of financial aid to complete his first-cycle degree, he can use all 21 months of student financial aid allocated to his second-cycle degree. If Eetu uses all 30 financial aid months allocated to his first-cycle degree to complete the said degree, the maximum number of financial aid months he can get for his second-cycle degree is 18 months.
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 5 months of financial aid. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
| Total scope of the degree programme | Maximum aid period in total |
| 300 credits | 50 months, of which a maximum of 32 months is available for the first-cycle degree and a maximum of 23 months for the second-cycle degree |
330 credits (M.Sc.Psych or MMus) | 55 months, of which a maximum of 32 months is available for the first-cycle degree and a maximum of 28 months for the second-cycle degree |
330 credits (Master of Fine Arts) | 55 months, of which a maximum of 37 months is available for the first-cycle degree and a maximum of 23 months for the second-cycle degree |
| 360 credits (Licentiate of Veterinary Medicine, Licentiate of Medicine) | 59 months, of which a maximum of 32 months is available for the first-cycle degree and a maximum of 32 months for the second-cycle degree |
Some degree programmes may carry exceptions to the number of financial aid months available to you. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
Example: Maximum aid period if you are completing both a first-cycle degree and a second-cycle degree and you began your studies between 1 August 2014 and 31 July 2017
Aleksi is enrolled in an institution of higher education to complete both a first- and a second-cycle degree. He began his studies on 1 August 2015. The maximum aid period available for Aleksi’s first-cycle degree is 32 months (180 credits) while the maximum aid period available for his second-cycle degree is 23 months (120 credits). However, the combined maximum number of financial aid months available to Aleksi is 50 months.
If Aleksi uses a maximum of 27 months of financial aid to complete his first-cycle degree, he can use all 23 months of financial aid allocated to his second-cycle degree. If Aleksi uses all 32 financial aid months allocated to his first-cycle degree to complete the said degree, the maximum number of financial aid months he can get for his second-cycle degree is 18 months.
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 10 months of financial aid. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
Example: Maximum aid period if you are completing both a first-cycle degree and a second-cycle degree and you began your studies before 31 July 2014
Ville is enrolled in an institution of higher education to complete both a first- and a second-cycle degree. He began his studies on 1 August 2013. The maximum aid period available for Ville’s first-cycle degree is 37 months (180 credits) while the maximum aid period available for his second-cycle degree is 28 months (120 credits). However, the combined maximum number of financial aid months available to Ville is 55 months.
If Ville uses a maximum of 27 months of financial aid to complete his first-cycle degree, he can use all 28 months of financial aid allocated to his second-cycle degree. If Ville uses all 37 financial aid months allocated to his first-cycle degree to complete the said degree, the maximum number of financial aid months he can get for his second-cycle degree is 18 months.
Number of financial aid months available for studies at a university when you are enrolled to complete only a first-cycle degree or a second-cycle degree
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 3 months of financial aid. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
| Scope of the first-cycle degree or second-cycle degree | Maximum aid period |
| 60 credits | 12 months |
| 90 credits | 17 months |
| 120 credits | 21 months |
| 150 credits | 26 months |
| 180 credits | 30 months |
| 210 credits | 35 months |
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 5 months of financial aid. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
| Scope of the first-cycle degree or second-cycle degree | Maximum aid period |
| 120 credits | 23 months |
| 150 credits | 28 months |
| 180 credits | 32 months |
| 210 credits | 37 months |
The maximum aid period available for your studies is the number of months calculated based on the regular completion time of your degree and an additional 10 months of financial aid. You can see your maximum aid period in the decision Kela has issued to you on your student financial aid.
If you are not completing a degree but a separate study module or a separate programme of continuing vocational education, you can get financial aid, at maximum, for the duration set out in the curriculum for these studies. If the duration of the studies is not specified, you can get 1 month of financial for each 5 credits you complete.
Financial aid in the summer months
You can be paid financial aid in the summer if you study during the summer months. You qualify for financial aid if you, for example, attend lectures, complete exams, participate in on-the-job-training or work on your thesis.
Please note that if you are paid student financial aid during the summer months, those months will be deducted from the total number of financial aid months available to you. Student financial aid paid during the summer months will also be taken into account in your income check and in the monitoring of your study progress.
How to apply for financial aid for the summer months
Apply for financial aid for the summer months in the OmaKela e-service by submitting a notification of changes. We recommend that you apply for financial aid for the summer months as early as possible because the earliest you can be paid student financial aid is from the beginning of the month in which your application arrived at Kela. Do not state what studies you intend to complete during the summer in your application as this will slow down the processing of your application.
Visit OmaKela to see if your application has been decided, how much financial aid you will get and when it will be paid. You will also see reminders to submit any missing supporting documents.
If you cannot use OmaKela, send your application to Kela by post. Save the form Notification of changes – Financial aid for students OT 15e (PDF) to your device and fill it in after saving it. Print out the completed form and send it and any supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
If you intend to complete more than one course of study in higher education
If you continue your studies in higher education after you have completed your first higher education degree, you may be able to get financial aid for your new studies as well. You cannot, however, get as many months of financial aid for your new studies as you could for your first course of study as a total aid period applies to all your studies in higher education.
If you cannot complete your degree within the maximum aid period
If you could not complete your degree within the maximum aid period available for the degree, we can grant you an extension to your financial aid period. This extension is either a maximum of 9 months of additional financial aid or what remains of your total aid period if it is less than 9 months. The total aid period refers to the total number of financial aid months you can get for your studies in higher education.
Remember to keep track of your income and study progress
When you are paid student financial aid, you must keep an eye on your income. In addition to your income, we will monitor your study progress. If you notice that your income in a given year exceeds your annual income limit or you are progressing more slowly in your studies than you should, you can cancel or pay back student financial aid. Alternatively, you can also apply to be paid financial aid in only some months of active study.