As part of the financial aid for students
With the student loan, you can finance your life during the studies and concentrate on the studies instead of working. You will not need any separate collateral, as the student loan is guaranteed by the state. The payment of interest and instalments will not commence until after the studies.
With the student loan, you can finance the necessary purchases or accumulate a reserve fund to ensure smooth studies.
Student loan is a low-cost loan. The loan is guaranteed by the state, which means that you will not need other collateral or guarantors. During the time when you receive financial aid for students, the interest is added to the capital.
If you complete your university studies within the target time, you may be entitled to subsidy from Kela for the loan repayment. Read more about the student loan compensation and student loan deduction on the Kela website.
Kela: www.kela.fi
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)
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
Content is loading