Student loan

Kela usually makes the decision on financial aid for students for the entire duration of the studies and sends an annual notice to the student. In our loan decision, we apply the guarantee amounts and disbursement times specified by Kela. Kela can increase the guarantee during the semester. You will, however, have to ask for the increase yourself.

You can disburse the loan within the framework of the disbursement amounts during the semester, either in one go or as several separate disbursements.

The disbursement amounts are available until the end date of the last disbursement amount. The part of your loan that you do not use by that date will be cancelled completely.

Contact us as soon as possible and we will review the possibilities for change. 

If you are paying your student loan back and continue your studies without state financial aid for students, you can apply for an amendment to the repayment timetable of instalments that you have received. Changes to the loan are subject to a service fee according to the pricelist valid from time to time.

During your studies, you do not pay interest on the loan. Instead, it is added to the capital. This means that you will not start repaying the interest or instalments of the loan until after your studies are finished.

Kela automatically creates a repayment plan for student loans based on the times that the interest of the student loan has been added to the capital. The more times the interest has been added to the capital, the lower the monthly payment is. In addition, the amount of the loan capital affects the forthcoming payment plan. 

Before the beginning of the repayment of the student loan, interest is added once more to the capital, in June or December following the end of the study grant period, depending on when you have withdrawn your last study grant payment. After the capitalisation, interest is paid semiannually during the next year. Interest is always charged on 15 June and 15 December.

The repayment of the student loan capital will commence half a year after these two interest invoices, as indicated in the advance notice that you have received. We will notify you well in advance before the repayment.

The expected repayment period of the student loan is as many years as there are times that the interest has been added to the capital (twice a year). However, the repayment period of the loan may not exceed 30 years.

If you have completed your university degree within the target time and have started your studies after 1 August 2014, you are entitled to student loan compensation. This means that Kela pays part of your student loan. 

If you have started your studies before 1 August 2014 and have completed your university degree within the target time, you are entitled to a student loan deduction. This means that the amount of tax you pay is lowered by the amount of the deduction.

Kela.fi: Student loan tax deduction
Kela.fi: Student loan compensation