Assistance with student loan interest

Assistance with student loan interest (interest assistance) means that Kela pays the interest due on your student loan. You do not have to pay the interest or the interest assistance back to us. We pay the interest assistance either to you or directly to your bank.

The amount of interest assistance you can get is equal to the amount of interest due on your student loan and the notification fees charged by your bank. Other fees or charges related to your student loan are not covered by the interest assistance. This includes for example fees charged for changes made to your loan’s repayment plan and penalty interest for late payment.

The interest due on a student loan is usually paid once every 1, 3 or 6 months as agreed with the bank that issued the loan. However, Kela only pays interest assistance 2 times a year. This means that each interest assistance payment covers interest that has accrued over 6 months.

Can you get interest assistance?

You can get interest assistance if

• your income does not exceed the income limit for interest assistance
• your bank has begun to charge interest from you and no longer adds it to your loan principal.

You do not have to pay interest on your student loan while you are being paid student financial aid. During this time, the bank adds the interest to the principal of your student loan. This means that the interest is capitalised. When you stop being paid student financial aid, the bank will capitalise the interest for one additional academic term. After that you have to start paying the interest on your student loan to the bank.

If you are performing military or non-military service, we will pay the interest on your student loan as part of your conscript’s allowance.

You cannot get interest assistance for loans that we have paid back to the bank on your behalf as the guarantor and which we then recover from you.

Income limits for interest assistance

You can get assistance with student loan interest (interest assistance) if your income does not exceed the income limit for interest assistance. The income limit is higher if you are the guardian of your children who are under 18 or if your partner’s underage children are living with you. The following income limits apply until the end of February 2026:

• no children: EUR 1,589 per month
• for 1 child: EUR 1,835 per month
• for 2 children: EUR 1,902 per month
• for 3 or more children: EUR 2,015 per month.

Interest assistance is affected by your taxable earned income and capital income. We take your income into account at its gross amount.

How income affects financial aid for students in upper secondary school or vocational education

How income affects financial aid for students in higher education

Tax-exempt income and benefits do not affect the interest assistance. For example general housing allowance, child benefit and social assistance are tax-exempt income.

Interest assistance is affected by your income during a period of 4 months:

• Your income from 1 February to 31 May affects the interest assistance you can get for interest payments due in the first half of the year.
• Your income from 1 August to 30 November affects the interest assistance you can get for interest payments due in the second half of the year.

Any income you get is taken into account as income for the period in which it was paid. For example, if you earn a salary in January but it is paid to your bank account in February, it will be taken into account in your income for February. However, capital gains are generally considered income paid to you on the date of the sale.

If you have had varying amounts of monthly income between February and May or between August and November, the amounts are averaged and the average amount may not exceed the income limit.

When is interest assistance paid and to whom?

The interest due on a student loan is usually paid to the bank every 1, 3 or 6 months. Check your loan agreement to see what terms you have agreed on with your bank with regard to the payment of interest.

Kela pays the assistance with student loan interest only once per each interest payment period. This means that the interest assistance is paid once every 6 months. You can get interest assistance for

• interest payments due in the first half of the year, which means interest payable from January to June
• interest payments due in the second half of the year, which means interest payable from July to December.

The payment schedule that applies to your interest payments affects whether we pay the interest assistance to you or directly to your bank. However, you must apply for the interest assistance every 6 months (twice a year). You can get interest assistance for a maximum of 5 interest payment periods (2.5 years). There can be gaps between the payment periods.

If you are currently paying interest every month or every 3 months, you can ask your bank if you could pay interest every 6 months instead. Make sure to ask your bank well before the interest payment period begins. Tell your bank that the change would allow Kela to pay the interest assistance directly to the bank for the full 6-month interest payment period.

Kela uploads information about the interest assistance paid to you into the Incomes Register within 5 days of the date of payment.

How to apply for interest assistance

1. Complete the form Application for assistance with student loan interest OT 7e (PDF). Save the blank form to your device and fill it in in PDF format. You can apply for interest assistance only once every 6 months either for the interest due in the first half of the year or in the second half of the year.
2. Send the application in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish or Swedish):

   • Go to Tee hakemus (File an application), select Opiskelu (Students) and then Opintolainan korkoavustus, opintolainahyvitys tai -vähennys (Assistance with student loan interest, student loan compensation or student loan tax deduction).
   • Select the application form on your device and press Lähetä (Send).
   • When you send your application in OmaKela, you do not need to sign it.
   • Take photos of any supporting documents you may have and send them in OmaKela after you have submitted your application form.
   • You do not need to provide any documents for any salary, wages, compensations or benefits that appear in the national Incomes Register.
3. If you have been paid income that does not appear in the Incomes Register, send us documents that show how much of this kind of income has been paid to you in a period of 4 calendar months with your application.

   • If you are applying for assistance with interest due in the first half of the year, report your income from 1 February to 31 May. If you are applying for assistance with interest due in the second half of the year, report your income from 1 August to 30 November.
   • The documents you send us must show the gross(?) amount of the income and when it was paid to you.
   • You do not need to provide any documents for any salary, wages, compensations or benefits that appear in the national Incomes Register.
4. Send us documents showing the interest and fees you have paid to your bank or for example a copy of your bank statement with your application. A notification of direct debit is not sufficient proof of how much interest you have paid. The documents must show the amount of interest you have paid and the notification fees charged by your bank.

   • You do not need to send us any documents if we pay the interest assistance to the bank in full.
   • If you want us to pay the interest assistance only to you, send us documents showing all interest and notification fees you have paid to your bank with your application.
   • If you want us to pay the interest assistance partly to you and partly to your bank, send us receipts of all interest and notification fees you have paid to your bank. You do not need to enclose any documents on the amount of interest assistance you want us to pay directly to your bank.
5. Visit OmaKela to see if your application has been decided, how much you will get and when your benefit will be paid. You can also see reminders to submit any missing supporting documents. The decision notice will also be sent to your home address unless you have opted out of paper mail.

If you cannot use OmaKela, fill in the application form and print and sign it. Send the application and any supporting documents by mail to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.