Student loan compensation
If you take out a student loan while in higher education and you complete your degree within the target time, you may be eligible for a student loan compensation. The student loan compensation means that Kela pays back part of your student loan. The compensation is only available to higher education students who began their first course of study in higher education on or after 1 August 2014.
Use this calculator (in Finnish) to estimate whether you qualify for a student loan compensation, what is the target time for completing your degree, and how large the compensation would be.
Eligibility for the student loan compensation
You are eligible for the student loan compensation if
- you began your first course of higher education study on or after 1 August 2014 (i.e., your first year of attendance was 2014–2015 or later),
- you complete your degree within the target time and
- you have outstanding government-guaranteed student debt of more than EUR 2,500.
Degrees which qualify you for a student loan compensation are:
- bachelor's and master's level university degrees
- bachelor's level degree obtained in a university of applied sciences.
The student loan compensation is only available for the first degree you complete. However, if you earn a bachelor's degree in a university, you can decide for yourself whether to apply for the compensation or whether to defer it until you have completed a master's level university degree.
You can be granted student loan compensation for a master's level degree attained at a university of applied sciences, but only if it is the first higher education degree that you attain.
Most graduates receive a written decision on the student loan compensation automatically.
- However, you must apply if you want to get the compensation for a bachelor's degree obtained in an institute of higher education. You must apply for the compensation within two years of taking a degree.
- If you have completed a degree outside Finland, you must notify Kela. You must notify Kela within two years of taking a degree.
You must complete your degree within a target time
To qualify for the student loan compensation, you must complete your degree within a specified target time. The target time depends on the degree you are completing.
Kela considers your period of study to begin at the beginning of the term when you first accept a place of study in any higher education institution. The studies are considered to have started
- 1 January always when the first place of study is for a course of study that starts in the spring term (1 January–31 July)
- 1 August always when the first place of study is for a course of study that starts in the autumn term (1 August–31 December)
The period of study ends on the last day of the term in which you complete a degree. The studies are considered to have ended
- 31 July always when you graduate in the spring term (1 January–31 July)
- 31 December always when you graduate in the autumn term (1 August–31 December)
The period of study also includes terms in which you register as non-attending or interrupt your studies.
If you accepted a place of study before 1 August 2014, but did not register as attending until or after 1 August 2014, your period of study is considered to begin on 1 August 2014.
| Extent of the degree programme | Target time |
|---|---|
| 300 credits | 6 academic years |
| 330 credits | 6.5 academic years |
| 360 credits | 7 academic years |
If you complete a master's level university degree exclusively, the target time depends on the combined extent of the bachelor's and master's programmes.
| Extent of the degree programme | Target time |
|---|---|
| 180 credits | 3.5 academic years |
| 210 credits | 4 academic years |
| 240 credits | 4.5 academic years |
| 270 credits | 5 academic years |
Extension of the target time
If you do not complete a degree within the target time, you may still be eligible for a student loan compensation if there is an acceptable reason for your failing to meet academic progress requirements. Such acceptable reasons are
- performing conscript, alternative or voluntary military service
- looking after a child, provided you were paid maternity, paternity or parental allowance
- a period of illness, provided you were paid sickness allowance, sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease or rehabilitation subsidy, pension or compensation on grounds of full incapacity for work
- procedures for awarding diplomas at a foreign higher education institution or start and end dates for the terms that differ from those in Finland
- delays in the studies due to the coronavirus epidemic.
The period of service or payment of an allowance must be uninterrupted and last at least 30 days during a period of time which qualifies for the student loan compensation.
A period of service or payment of an allowance lasting at least 30 days during a single academic term extends the target time by 0.5 academic years. Term dates are 1 January - 31 July and 1 August - 31 December. The target time cannot be extended by more than 0.5 academic years even if you have had several periods of service or payment of an allowance during a single term.
If the period of service or payment of an allowance lasts at least 30 days, but not within any individual term, the target time can still be extended by 0.5 academic years.
The target time can be extended without limit because of child care responsibilities if you are paid maternity, paternity or parental allowance. For any other reasons, the target time can usually be extended by a maximum of two academic years.
If you exceed the target time, you will receive a preliminary decision Kela telling you that you are not granted a student loan compensation. If you have an acceptable reason for taking longer than the target time, you can ask Kela to review your case again. The preliminary decision will give you the deadline for requesting a review.
Request a review of your case also when the time for completing a degree at the foreign institute of higher education has been at the most 3 months too long and the reason is
- a delay in the award of the diploma that is not due to you or
- the use of different start and end dates for the term at the foreign institute of higher education than those used in Finland.
Provide information about your actual time of study, the reasons for the delay in the granting of the diploma and the start and end dates of the term. Do it in your request or in an application for a student loan compensation (OT 30).
Did the coronavirus epidemic delay your graduation?
If you completed a higher education degree in the autumn term of 2020 (1 August 2020 to 31 December 2020), and your graduation was delayed because of the epidemic, you can get an extension of 0.5 academic years to your target time to qualify for the student loan compensation. The target time can be extended, if you in the autumn term of 2020 completed a degree that will be used as the basis for determining your entitlement to student loan compensation.
If you did not graduate within the target time to qualify for student loan compensation, you will receive a negative preliminary decision from Kela. Request a review of the preliminary decision, if your graduation was delayed due to the coronavirus epidemic. Please state in the request for review which study units that are required for the degree that you did not complete in the spring term of 2020 (1 January to 31 July 2020) due to the coronavirus epidemic. State in your request for review
- which compulsory study units you did not complete and
- how the coronavirus epidemic affected your studies so that you did not complete these study units.
The request for review can be a free of form description of your situation expressed in your own words. You do not need to enclose any certificates with your request. The reasons for a delay in your studies may for example have to do with the study arrangements or with your or your family member's health or general life situation.
If you wish to receive a student loan compensation on the basis of a Bachelor’s level university degree that you completed in the autumn term of 2020, you will not receive a decision automatically; instead you will have to apply for it. File your application for student loan compensation within 2 years of graduating. In such a case, explain in your application for student loan compensation (form OT 30e) how your studies were delayed due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Did you postpone the start of your studies due to the coronavirus epidemic?
Students who postpone the beginning of their studies in a higher education institution because of the epidemic may also qualify for an extension of the target graduation time. The above applies to you if your first admission to a degree programme is for a programme scheduled to begin in autumn term 2020 or in spring term 2021, but the coronavirus epidemic has caused you to postpone the start of your studies.
Kela considers you to have started your studies as follows:
- If you attend a Finnish institution of higher education and you have in preceding terms registered as non-attending due to the coronavirus epidemic, the period of study is considered to begin on the first day of the term in which you register as attending.
- If you study in a foreign higher education institution and you postponed the start of your studies due to the coronavirus epidemic, your studies are considered to begin on the first day of the term during which you actually started your studies.
If you do not graduate within the target time to qualify for student loan compensation, you will receive a negative preliminary decision from Kela. Request a review of the preliminary decision, if you postponed the start of your studies due to the coronavirus epidemic. Indicate in the request for review the government order related to the coronavirus epidemic or another weighty reason related to the epidemic that led you to register as non-attending. If you studied in a foreign higher education institution, also indicate in your request for review when you were first admitted to a degree programme and when you in fact started studying.
If you wish to receive a student loan compensation on the basis of a Bachelor’s level university degree that you completed, you will not receive a decision automatically; instead you will have to apply for it. File your application for student loan compensation within 2 years of graduating. In such a case, provide details in your application for student loan compensation (form OT 30e) on the postponement of the start of your studies due to the coronavirus epidemic.