Information about student loans

Amount of loan

The amount of State guarantee for the student loan depends on your age and the educational institution where you are studying.

Kela usually makes a decision on the financial aid for the entire time you are studying for your degree and sends an annual notification to the student. In our loan decision, we comply with the amount of guarantee and the disbursement times provided by Kela. Kela may increase the guarantee during the term, but you yourself must apply to increase the loan.

Read more about how the amount of student loan is determined (Kela.fi)

Disbursing the loan to the account

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.

Payment of interest

During your studies, you do not pay interest on the loan. Instead, it is added to the capital (="capitalised"). This means that you will not start repaying the interest or instalments of the loan until after your studies are finished. The interest is capitalised on the due dates of the interest rate (on 15 June and 15 December) as long as the student aid is granted by Kela, and once again after the completion of the aid.

Repayment

A repayment plan is agreed on the promissory note. The repayment plan is influenced by the amount of capital and the amount of capitalisations of interest. The repayment of the loan capital usually starts 1,5 years after the last capitalisation and no later than 15 years after the first disbursement of the loan. for student loans based on the times interest on the loan has been added to the capital. The assumed repayment period of the student loan is as many years as there are times that interest has been added to the capital (twice a year), but not more than 15 years. For example, if interest has been capitalised eight times over four years, the repayment term is assumed to be eight years.

When the interest is capitalised for the last time, we will send you a notice of the repayment plan, which will show the amount of the instalments and the due dates of the payments.

Changes to the student loan

You can apply for a variety of changes to the loan, such as interest only period or a change in the payment schedule online with our application form. 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. Any changes will be processed on the basis of the application and will be subject to a service fee in accordance with the applicable service price list at all times.

Terms and prices

Interest

The interest rate of the student loan is automatically linked to the 12-month Euribor. The linking can be changed with a separate agreement.

For the semesters that you receive financial aid for students, and for semesters following such a semester, the interest of the loan is added to the capital. The regular due dates for the interest are 15 June and 15 December.

The payment of interest will commence in full and the interest will no longer be capitalised once the bank receives information from Kela that financial aid for students has ended.

Prices

A service fee is charged for setting up or increasing the student loan and for additional disbursements of the loan. The first disbursement and a disbursement after a loan increase are free of charge.

The prices are according to the service pricelist valid from time to time.

• Service pricelist (pdf)
• General terms and conditions (pdf)
• Standard European consumer credit information (pdf)

Eligibility for a loan requires a positive credit decision.

Example calculation: If you take a loan of €8 000, the loan period is 15 years and the reference rate for the loan is the 12-month Euribor, the total interest rate of the loan would be 3.613 % (4.369% Annual Percentage Rate calculated according to the Consumer Protection Act). The total amount of the credit and other credit expenses is €10 891.00, including the origination fee, €30, an automatic account debiting charge, €2.5/payment, and the number of payments is 180. (Information as of the situation on 4 September 2024)