Kela asks approximately 25,000 students to explain lack of progress in their studies – some may lose their student financial aid and housing supplement

Kela has sent a request for further information to about 6,500 upper secondary students and 18,700 higher education students who do not meet the minimum credit requirement for financial aid for the academic year 2025–2026. A total of about 307,000 students received student financial aid in the previous academic year. This means that only about 12.2 per cent of all students will be asked to explain their lack of progress.

“If a student receives a request for further information from Kela, they should respond to it and tell Kela why their studies have slowed down,” says Legal Counsel Linda Reinikainen from Kela’s Student Financial Aid Section.

Students in higher education must earn an average of at least 5 credits per each month of financial aid and a total of at least 20 credits per academic year in order to qualify for financial aid for students. For students in upper secondary education, the minimum study progress required is 20 credits or ECVET competence points per academic year.

If a student has received a request for further information about their study progress, the first thing they should do is check whether all their study credits have been properly entered into their study record. If data are missing from the study record, the student should ask their educational institution to enter the missing credits in the study record and mention this in their reply to Kela.

Reinikainen notes that students generally make good progress in their studies.

“It is understandable for students to sometimes not make progress at the planned pace. Studies can progress slower than expected for various acceptable reasons, such as if the student or someone close to them has a medical condition or if the student faces some other difficult situation in life or is working on an exceptionally extensive study module. Students who are facing any of these challenges should tell Kela about it in their reply.”

Students should always reply to the request or risk losing their student financial aid and housing supplement

Kela has sent the request for further information to students in upper secondary education and to students in higher education at different times. Students in upper secondary education must respond to the request by 2 October 2026 at the latest, while higher education students must respond by 25 October 2026. The answer can be sent through OmaKela. OmaKela is only available in Finnish and Swedish, but the reply can be in English.

If a student does not reply to the request for further information or if the reasons presented in their reply are not accepted, Kela will stop paying them student financial aid and housing supplement as of 1 January 2027.

“It is crucial to respond to Kela’s request for further information on study progress. Not responding to it, or not presenting an acceptable reason for the lack of study progress, will lead to Kela stopping the payment of the student’s financial aid and housing supplement. This means that students should respond to the request as soon as possible so that they do not forget to do so and lose their benefits at the start of the next year,” Reinikainen says.

If Kela does stop the payment of a student’s financial aid and housing supplement, the student can apply for it again once they have made enough progress with their studies.

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