Were you granted a place of study? Use the OmaKela e-service to apply for benefits and remember to pay the student healthcare fee on time

Congratulations on your admission! You can apply for student financial aid and general housing allowance when you start a new course of study. If you are in upper secondary education, you can also apply for school transport subsidy. If you begin studying in a Finnish higher education institution, you must pay a student healthcare fee.

You can apply for student financial aid in OmaKela as soon as you accept your offer of admission. You can apply for student financial aid even if you do not yet know where and how you will live while in school.

Use our online calculator (available in Finnish and Swedish) to check your eligibility for student financial aid and to get an estimate.

Have you finalised your living arrangements? Apply for general housing allowance

You can use the OmaKela e-service to apply for general housing allowance as soon as you have a rental agreement and you know your income for the coming autumn. General housing allowance is granted to an entire household as a whole.

You can use our online calculator (available in Finnish and Swedish) to see whether you are eligible for general housing allowance and how much you could get.

For instance, if you are studying abroad or in the Åland Islands, you may be eligible for a student housing supplement. The same application is used as for student financial aid.

Are you in upper secondary education? Apply for school transport subsidy

You can apply for school transport subsidy in OmaKela if you are in upper secondary education and you have a long commute to school. Use our online calculator (available in Finnish and Swedish) to check your eligibility for school transport subsidy.

Are you a higher education student? Pay the student healthcare fee in time

If you are registered as attending a Finnish higher education institution, you must pay a student healthcare fee to Kela each term on your own initiative. You pay the fee in the OmaKela e-service.

The due dates for the healthcare fee will change in 2024. The new due date for the spring term will be 15 March, applicable to students who register as attending by 31 January. If you register as attending for the spring term on or after 1 February, the due date is 31 July. The 2024 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 36.80 per term. Students can pay the fee starting immediately.

You can use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). FSHS provides health care services, mental health services and oral health services.

Do you want to get less paper mail and speed up the handling of your Kela matters? 

If you wish, you can choose to only receive decisions and letters online. Visit the OmaKela e-service to give your consent to receive letters, messages and decision notices from us electronically. You will be notified by text message or email whenever you have new documents in OmaKela. Please note, however, that some decisions and letters (e.g. decisions on school transport subsidy) are only sent as paper documents for the time being.

Additional information for customers