Student loan for adult students
If you receive adult education allowance, you can get a student loan guarantee from Kela. The adult education allowance is available from the Employment Fund (tyollisyysrahasto.fi). Please contact the Employment Fund for details.
Apply to the Employment Fund for the adult education allowance.
Eligibility for the loan guarantee
You can get a loan guarantee from Kela if you receive adult education allowance for an uninterrupted period of at least 8 weeks. You can get the loan guarantee for months in which there are at least 18 calendar days for which you are paid adult education allowance. The loan guarantee can be granted on the basis of the data in the initial decision issued by the Employment Fund.
Your income or property do not affect your eligibility for the adult education allowance.
The loan guarantee for adult students is subject to the same conditions as the loan guarantee available under the financial aid system. Take a close look at the interest and repayment terms. You cannot get a loan guarantee if you receive other assistance that disqualifies you for student financial aid.
Amount
The full loan guarantee under the financial aid scheme for adult students will be EUR 850 per month. If you complete part of your studies abroad for example as an exchange student, the loan guarantee is EUR 1,000 per month.
How to apply
Complete and print out the application form for a government student loan guarantee under the adult education allowance scheme, OT 12 (PDF, in Finnish) to apply for the loan guarantee.
Save the blank form to your device. Open the form with Adobe Reader and fill it in. If you do not have Adobe Reader on your device, a free download is available in your device’s app store and on the Adobe website.
Save the completed application form on your device. Note that the application must be in PDF format. If you send your application to Kela in OmaKela, you do not need to sign it.
Log in to OmaKela and select Lähetä liite (Send a supporting document). Select Opiskelu (Studies) as the subject. The select Muu liite (Other document) and Aikuiskoulutuksen lainatakaus (Loan guarantee associated with the adult education allowance). Select the application form on your device and press Lähetä (Send).
A written decision on your application will be sent to you by post. You can also view the decision on our e-service.
If you cannot use OmaKela, send your application to Kela by post. Save the blank form 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.
Please do not apply for both an adult education allowance and regular student financial aid (i.e. study grant) at the same time. If you receive a decision from the Employment Fund denying you adult education allowance, you can apply to Kela for student financial aid. Tell in your application for student financial aid when you applied to the Employment Fund for an adult education allowance. Kela can grant you financial aid retroactively earliest from the beginning of the month in which you submitted an application for adult education allowance to the Employment Fund.
When to apply
The earliest that you can get a loan guarantee is the beginning of the month preceding your application. For example, if your application arrives at Kela in October, you can be get a loan guarantee from the beginning of August.
Other assistance for adult students
Besides the adult education allowance, you can finance your studies with
- financial aid for students
- an unemployment benefit
- apprenticeship training: te-services.fi
- assistance related to rehabilitation.
If you complete a university degree within the target time and you have taken out more than €2,500 in student loans, you can get a student loan compensation, if you started your first course of university study on or after 1 August 2014.