Study progress in higher education

If you are in higher education you must complete

  • at least 5 credits on average for each month of financial aid and
  • at least 20 credits in each academic year (the minimum requirement)

A month of financial aid is a month in which you have been paid either a study grant, a housing supplement, or both. The number of months of financial aid does not affect the minimum requirement for progress. Even if you have received financial aid for only one month within a single academic year, you must complete at least 20 credits. The minimum requirement for study progress does not apply to the first academic year of a course of study that begins in the spring (1 January – 31 July) nor to the academic year during which you complete a degree of higher education.

If you have not earned at least 5 credits per each month of financial aid in the preceding academic year, you may still be able to get financial aid if you have earned at least 5 credits per month during your entire course of study. However, you must have earned at least 20 credits during the preceding academic year as a whole.

Example

A student earned 40 credits in the previous academic year (1 August–31 July) and has received financial aid payments for nine months. Over her entire course of study, she has earned 140 credits and taken out financial aid for 27 months.

  1. She earned at least 20 credits during the preceding academic year and therefore satisfies the minimum requirement for progress.
  2. She earned 4.4 credits on average for each month of financial aid in the previous academic year. Because this is less than 5 credits per month of financial aid, Kela checks the total number of credits earned over the entire course of study.
  3. The student has earned an average of 5.2 credits over her entire course of study. Because this is more than 5 credits per month of financial aid, she is deemed to have made sufficient academic progress. Kela does not send her a request for further information. Payment of financial aid continues.

When monitoring the study progress, all credits earned and months of financial aid as regards higher education studies are taken into account, but at the earliest starting from 1 August 2011.

Monitoring of study progress

Kela checks study progress every year in October. The check focuses on the preceding academic year (1 August – 31 July) and the whole time of studies as regards higher education studies. Kela does not monitor your progress on a month-by-month basis. Credits earned in August the same year are not taken into account until the next time your study progress is monitored. Transfer credits are not recognised when monitoring study progress.

If you graduate or complete a higher education degree before the study progress is monitored or during the academic year preceding the monitoring of study progress, you have made sufficient progress in your studies. If you have completed a degree of higher education already earlier, i.e. before the academic year preceding the monitoring of study progress, the study credits and months of financial aid are taken into account for the time following the month when you completed the degree of higher education.

Example

The student completes a Bachelor's degree in November 2018 and continues his studies towards a Master's degree. When the study progress for the academic year 2018–2019 is monitored in October 2019, the student has made sufficient progress in his studies since he has completed a higher education degree during the academic year preceding the monitoring of study progress.

When the study progress for the academic year 2019–2020 is monitored in October 2020, the student’s study credits and months of financial aid are taken into account for the period after the month of completing the Bachelor's degree, i.e. 1 December 2018 – 31 July 2020.

A month of financial aid is a month in which you have been paid either a study grant, a housing supplement, or both. For the purposes of monitoring study progress, months for which you have paid back financial aid or for which financial aid is recovered are not considered as months of financial aid. General housing allowance is not taken into account in the months of financial aid for the purpose of monitoring study progress.

If you wish to reduce the number of months of financial aid that are taken into account when monitoring your study progress, you can cancel financial aid or pay back aid that you have already received. If you do not complete at least 20 credits during the academic year, you must cancel or return all payments for that year.

Kela does not monitor your progress on a month-by-month basis. Transfer credits are not recognised when monitoring study progress.

Exceptional situation caused by the coronavirus epidemic

Kela takes the exceptional situation caused by the coronavirus epidemic in spring 2020 into account when monitoring study progress for the academic year 2019–2020. For all higher education students, 2 months of financial aid will be deducted from the months of financial aid used in the academic year 2019–2020. The reduction in months of financial aid only concerns the monitoring of study progress. The months of financial aid are not reduced in connection with the income check for student financial aid or when calculating the months of financial aid for higher education that the student has used.

The months of financial aid are only reduced for the monitoring of study progress in the academic year 2019–2020.

Example

A student has earned 40 credits in the academic year 2019–2020 and received financial aid payments for nine months. When monitoring study progress in autumn 2020, the number of months of financial aid taken into account is 9 – 2 = 7. The student has earned 5.7 credits (40 credits / 7 months of financial aid) per month of financial aid, so the student has made sufficient study progress.

In autumn 2021, the study progress will be monitored for the academic year 2020–2021 and for the entire course of study. Then the months of financial aid for the entire course of study will include all the 9 months of financial aid used in the academic year 2019–2020.

If you have already repaid student financial aid because you did not earn enough credits in the academic year 2019–2020, the repayment may be unjustified since 2 months of financial aid are deducted for all higher education students in connection with the monitoring of study progress. In such a situation, you can request that Kela cancel the repayment. The request can be submitted with a message via Kela’s e-service by 30 September 2020 at the latest.

If you do not make satisfactory study progress

If you have not made satisfactory progress, Kela will send you a letter requesting further information. Reply and explain the reasons for the lack of progress. You may continue to get financial aid if your progress was slowed for an acceptable reason.

If you do not reply or the reasons you provide are not accepted, your financial aid can be

You may also be required to pay back financial aid, if it is discovered that your study progress has been particularly slow and if it is evident that you never intended to study at all.

Acceptable reasons for slower study progress

Acceptable reasons for slower study progress include

  • an illness of your own or of your close family member
  • otherwise difficult circumstances or
  • completing a particularly large study module (such as a thesis).

One acceptable reason for insufficient study progress when monitoring study progress for the academic year 2019–2020 can also be slower study progress due to the exceptional situation caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

Another reason which may be accepted is if you stop your studies because of the birth of a child or the performance of compulsory military service, alternative civilian service or women's voluntary armed service. Payment of financial aid may be continued

  • if you began to receive maternity, paternity or parental allowance or started service by January, and the allowance or service lasted throughout the spring term, or
  • if you received maternity, paternity or parental allowance or did service for the entire autumn term, and the allowance or service ended sometime during the spring term.

Cancelling and returning financial aid

If you wish to reduce the number of months of financial aid that are taken into account when monitoring your study progress, you can cancel financial aid or return financial aid funds that you have already received. If the academic year during which you have fallen behind with your studies has not yet ended, we recommend that you cancel your financial aid.

  • Financial aid for the autumn term must be returned by the end of the following April.
  • Financial aid for the spring term must be returned by September 11 in the same year.

When monitoring study progress in higher education studies, Kela takes into account all payments returned by the time the monitoring starts. If you return financial aid after you have received a letter requesting information on your study progress, you must reply to the letter that you have returned financial aid.

If you do not complete at least 20 credits during the academic year (which is the minimum requirement for progress), you must cancel or return all payments for that year. However, the minimum requirement for study progress does not apply to the first academic year of a course of study that begins in the spring (1 January – 31 July) nor to the academic year during which you complete a degree of higher education.