As a higher education student you can get student loan to a maximum of
EUR 850 per month
Student loan in higher education
On this page
Student loans are part of student financial aid. In order to get a student loan you need a loan guarantee from Kela. The guarantee is also called a government guarantee. You do not need any other guarantee for the loan.
If you get a loan guarantee from Kela, you can apply for a student loan at any bank of your choice. You do not need to take out the whole student loan from the bank. Instead you can take out only the amount you need. If you wish to withdraw student loan funds, you must agree on this with the bank separately each academic year.
You must pay back the student loan to the bank. You will start to pay back the loan about 1-2 years after your student financial aid has ended.
If you take out a student loan during your higher education studies and you complete your degree within the target time, you may have the right to a student loan compensation. It means that Kela pays back part of your student loan.
Can you get a government guarantee?
You can get a loan guarantee from Kela if you get study grant.
You can also get a loan guarantee if you are studying for a bachelor’s degree in military sciences at the National Defence University and your school pays you a daily allowance, and therefore you cannot get study grant.
You cannot get a loan guarantee from Kela if
- we are collecting your old student loan from you that you have not paid back to the bank
- you are serving a prison sentence in a high security prison, open prison or release unit.
How much student loan can you get?
You cannot get more student loan than this, except if you study abroad. The student loan and other student financial aid are intended for all the months of active study during the course of study. Consider carefully how you use your student loan.
Examples of amounts of student loan
Ella withdraws the total amount of student loan included in the student financial aid for the period from September to May. The amount is 9 x EUR 850, i.e. EUR 7,650, and Ella can withdraw the amount in two instalments.
Aleksi withdraws the student loan funds for the spring term, i.e. the period from January to May, and for two summer months, i.e. June and July. The loan amounts to 7 x EUR 850, i.e. EUR 5,950.
Estimate the amount of the student loan with the help of the calculator for student financial aid
Agree with the bank on when you will withdraw student loan funds. Withdrawing student loan funds means that the student loan funds are paid into your bank account.
The student loan funds will be paid into your bank account as follows:
- disbursement for the autumn term: earliest date 1 August
- disbursement for the spring term: earliest date 1 January
Example
Varpu wishes to withdraw all the student loan funds for the autumn term on 1 August. Varpu’s studies begin at the beginning of September. She can withdraw 4 x EUR 850, i.e. EUR 3,400.
You can withdraw the student loan for the whole academic year at once if
- you complete an entire course of study abroad
- you complete scientific post-graduate studies or post-graduate studies in fine arts at a university.
You can withdraw the disbursements for the current academic year also later during the same academic year. However, there is a time limit for the withdrawing of student loan funds (usually 31 July).
Example
Venla has received a decision on the government guarantee, but she has not withdrawn any student loan funds. In February Venla incurs considerable expenses. In February Venla can withdraw the student loan for the autumn term in addition to the student loan for the spring term.
The decision on student financial aid provides more information on the student loan amounts and the time limits when you can withdraw student loan funds at the earliest and at the latest. The decision can be viewed in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish).
When can you not withdraw student loan funds?
You cannot withdraw student loan funds after the specified date. Further, you cannot draw down any student loan funds after you have graduated or otherwise ended your course of study. However, you will be covered by any government guarantees issued for loans already disbursed to you.
If you cancel your financial aid beforehand, you cannot receive loan instalments with a disbursement date later than the date on which your financial aid was cancelled.
The earliest date on which student loan funds for the spring term can be made available is 1 January
If you cancel financial aid payments or months of aid available to you for the spring term before 1 January, you will not be able to get a student loan for the spring term or for the months of aid you have cancelled.
If you cancel or return financial aid payments or months of aid for the spring term after 1 January, you retain full student loan eligibility for the spring term. However, this is the case only if you have previously agreed with your bank how to take out the loan and Kela has provided your bank with the necessary loan guarantee details. Visit the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) to check whether the loan guarantee details have been forwarded to your bank.
How to apply for a student loan
As a higher education student you will automatically get a decision on the government guarantee at the same time as you apply for study grant with an application for student financial aid. When you have received a positive decision on the government guarantee, you should agree on the loan with the bank.
Apply for student financial aid in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish). If you cannot use OmaKela, read on the application form about the application for student financial aid.
The earliest you can get a government guarantee is from the beginning of the month in which Kela receives your application. Applications submitted in the OmaKela e-service arrive at Kela on the same day they are submitted. If you fill in a paper application form and mail it to Kela by post, please note that it often takes a few days for Kela to get it.
If you are granted a loan guarantee for your entire course of study, you will receive a loan guarantee decision for each academic year at a time. The next year's decision is sent to you automatically in July.
If you get a loan guarantee from Kela, you can apply for a student loan at any bank of your choice. Take a look at the bank’s instructions for applying for a student loan for example by visiting its website. The bank will decide whether it will grant you a loan.
It is a good idea to contact several banks for a loan offer, because the terms of the loan may vary. The terms of the loan concern for instance the interest rate on the loan, when you will have to start paying back the loan and the period for paying back the loan.
Study the terms carefully. We will not advise you on this, because the bank should do that.
Agree on when you will withdraw the disbursements with the bank well in advance of the last date for withdrawing student loan funds. Information about your loan guarantee is provided to the bank directly from Kela, so you do not have to do so yourself. Checking the information usually takes one business day.
You will automatically receive a decision on the government guarantee for the next academic year in July. However, if you wish to withdraw student loan funds, you must agree on this with the bank separately each academic year.
Interest and repayment
You are usually not required to make repayments on your student loan or pay interest while you receive financial aid. If you make repayments on the student loan to the bank already while you study, the repayment may reduce the amount of the student loan compensation.
The bank will automatically add the interest on the student loan to the loan principal every year on 15 June and 15 December. This is called capitalising the interest on the loan.
When your student financial aid ends
The bank will add the interest to the loan principal a further term after your student financial aid has ended. For example, if you last received study grant in spring 2025, the last time that the bank will capitalise the interest due on your loan is December 2025. As long as the interest is capitalised by the bank, you cannot pay it yourself.
When the bank no longer capitalises the interest on your loan, you must start paying interest on the loan. If your income is small, you can get assistance with student loan interest.
You will usually have to start paying back your student loan 1–2 years after you got your last student financial aid payment. Agree on the repayment schedule with your bank.
If you have difficulty making repayments or paying the interest on your loan, contact the bank in good time before the payment is due.
If your income does not exceed the income limits, you can apply for assistance with student loan interest.
Your student loan is guaranteed by Kela. If you do not pay back your loan or pay interest on time, Kela will have to pay back your student loan to the bank.
After that we will collect the amount we have paid to the bank from you. This amount is called debt arising from the government student loan guarantee, and it includes the student loan, interest on the loan and the bank charges. In addition, you must pay 4% in interest on the debt arising from the loan guarantee to Kela.
You can contact Kela's Overpayment Recovery Centre to discuss how to pay the debt arising from the loan guarantee.
If you do not pay the debt arising from the loan guarantee as agreed, the amount will be collected from you through enforcement procedures.
Read more about the collection of debt arising from the government student loan guarantee.
If we have to collect unpaid student loan amounts from you, you cannot get a new government guarantee while the collection process is ongoing.
If you have not been granted a government guarantee because of an ongoing collection process, you can apply for a government guarantee again and refer to exceptional reasons. The minimum requirement is that you have paid back on the debt arising from the loan guarantee according to the payment plan. You must provide documentation with the new application. Instructions for the type of documentation that is needed are enclosed with the negative decision on the government guarantee.
If you start studying again, you can agree on exemption from repayment on the student loan or other payment arrangements with the bank. If you get student financial aid for your new studies, inform the bank about this. Ask the bank when the bank will start capitalising the interest on your student loan and what interest you have to pay.
We will not inform the bank about the student financial aid granted to you until you have received student financial aid for the first term. If you start studying in August, we will inform the bank about your financial aid in December.