Kela Newsletters
Year 2023
Higher education students who study for a degree and who have registered as attending must pay the student healthcare fee on their own initiative using the OmaKela e-service. The due date for the spring term is 31 January 2023.
So far, about 56,000 students have paid the healthcare fee for spring term 2023. Some 215,000 students have yet to pay it.
During the week ending 9 January, Kela sent a letter to students who according to the information available to Kela had registered as attending for the spring term 2023 but had not yet paid the healthcare fee. The letter reminds the student of the obligation to pay the fee and provides instructions for how to pay it. The letter can also be read in the OmaKela e-service. In the OmaKela e-service, students can also choose to henceforth receive the letter only via OmaKela.
The letter will not be sent to students who have paid the fee or who have not registered as attending.
The 2023 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 36.80 per term
In 2023, the student healthcare fee in higher education is EUR 36.80 per term. Students can also pay the fee for both the spring and autumn term 2023 at the same time (EUR 73.60).
Students are not billed for the fee but are expected to pay it unprompted. Students who do not pay the fee by 31 January 2023 will get a letter from Kela reminding them of it. They will also be charged a EUR 5 late fee.
The healthcare fee is used to finance healthcare services for higher education students. The State finances 77% of the costs for healthcare services for higher education students and the rest, 23%, are financed through the healthcare fee. Students who have registered as attending are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS).
You do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country or from Switzerland or the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland
Students who have social security coverage from another EU or EEA country, from Switzerland or from Great Britain and Northern Ireland are exempt from paying the student healthcare fee for higher education students.
However, the student must submit a copy of a valid EHIC card (European Health Insurance Card) to Kela. If the student has social security coverage in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, the student can send a copy of either a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). For more detailed instructions, see Kela’s website.
Additional information for customers
In 2023, there will be several changes to student benefits. The income limit for student financial aid, the study grant, the provider supplement to the study grant and the meal subsidy for students will all be increased. However, the healthcare fee for higher education students will also go up. A new extension criterion will also be introduced to the target time in which students must complete their degrees in order to qualify for a student loan compensation.
As of the beginning of 2023, there will be several changes to student benefits. Several benefits will be increased, and there will also be changes to the criteria for granting student loan compensation and to the healthcare fee for higher education students.
The annual income limits for student financial aid will be increased by about 20%
As of the beginning of 2023, the annual income limits for student financial aid will be raised across the board to a level about 20% higher than the 2022 level. This means that a student who gets financial aid for nine months can earn up to 18,720 euros before taxes on top of student financial aid next year. The corresponding limit for students who receive financial aid for 10 months is 16,640 euros.
No per-month income limits apply to student financial aid. Students can earn their income at any time during the calendar year as long as it does not exceed the annual income limit. An annual income limit calculator is available (in Finnish and Swedish) where students can check the annual income limit.
Study grants will be increased by 4.2% as of 1 August 2023
Study grants will be increased by 4.2% in line with the National Pensions Index. The increase will enter into force as of the beginning of the next academic year, on 1 August 2023. For students aged 18 or over who are living independently, the study grant will go up from 268.23 euros to 279.38 euros per month.
The provider supplement to the study grant will be increased by 10 euros per month
The provider supplement to the study grant will be raised by 10 euros per month for the duration of 2023. Study grants can include a provider supplement if the recipient provides for a child under 18. Provider supplements will also be index adjusted upwards on 1 August 2023. The rates of the provider supplement will go up from 107.17 euros to 117.17 euros per month starting 1 January 2023, and further to 122.05 per month starting 1 August 2023.
The target time to qualify for student loan compensation can be extended due to war
Students who complete their degree within a specified target time can get a student loan compensation. As of the beginning of 2023, it will be possible to extend the target time for earning a degree for students attending school in a country at war. The target time can be extended by one academic year.
The target time to earn a degree can also be extended by one academic year for other exceptional circumstances comparable in severity to a state of war. This can include serious mass casualty incidents or natural disasters, large-scale armed attacks, or dangerous communicable diseases that have spread widely.
More information is found in this press release
Meal subsidy increased by 0.25 euros
The meal subsidy for higher education students will be increased by 0.25 euros. The increase will bring the meal subsidy to 2.55 euros per meal. In practice this means that Kela’s share of the cost of the meal will increase, while the student’s out-of-pocket share will decrease. Under the meal subsidy programme, normal-priced unsubsidised meals may cost up to 5.50 euros. After deduction of the meal subsidy, students pay up to 2.95 euros for a normal-priced meal.
Slight increase in the healthcare fee for students in higher education
Students who are completing a degree at a Finnish institution of higher education and who have registered as attending for the term in question must pay a student healthcare fee. In 2023, the fee will increase from 35.80 euros per term to 36.80 euros per term. Students are not billed for the fee but are expected to pay it on their own initiative in the OmaKela e-service.
Students do not have to pay the healthcare fee if they have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country, from Switzerland or from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Despite not paying the fee, they may use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). Students who wish to use the services of the FSHS must be prepared to show a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) as of 1 January 2023.
More information is found in this press release
Information on most of the changes and on the new benefit rates will be published on the Kela.fi website on 1 January 2023. However, the index adjustment to the study grant will not take effect until the beginning of the new academic year, i.e. on 1 August 2023, and information on the new rates will be updated on the kela.fi website at that time.
Additional information for customers
Year 2022
Kela assesses the academic progress of higher education students on a yearly basis. This autumn the academic progress of about 138,000 higher education students was monitored. Based on this, financial aid payments will be stopped for about 3,500 students.
In autumn 2022, more requests to provide further information were sent than last year. One reason for the increase is the increase in the number of recipients of student financial aid in academic year 2021-2022 compared to the preceding academic year.
For an estimated 3,500 students, the student financial aid will be discontinued as of January because the student has not earned enough credits. For about 1,900 of these students, the payments are stopped because they did not reply to the request for further information.
What can students do if financial aid payments are stopped?
If the financial aid payments have been stopped because the student forgot to reply to the request for further information, he or she can request a review of the cancellation decision.
These students are sent a decision letter explaining what they can do to requalify for financial aid. Students can requalify for financial aid if they, after the financial aid payments were stopped, have obtained at least the minimum number of credits required. Students can also be granted financial aid again if there is a valid reason for not completing the required number of credits. Valid reasons include for instance illness or other difficult personal circumstances.
The decision is also accompanied by information about other kinds of support available to students.
Additional information for customers
Students who are completing a higher education degree and are registered as attending have to pay the healthcare fee. The due date of payment is determined based on the date on which the student has registered as attending. For the spring term 2023, the healthcare fee must be paid by 31 January 2023 at the latest, provided the student has registered as attending by then. If the student registers as attending for the spring term after this date, the fee must be paid by 31 July 2023 at the latest.
The healthcare fee for 2023 can now be paid via the OmaKela e-service (www.kela.fi/omakela).
- Go to Omat etuudet > Muut etuusasiat > Korkeakouluopiskelijan terveydenhoitomaksu.
- If the student cannot use the OmaKela e-service for instance because he or she does not have Finnish banking credentials, the student can pay the fee to Kela as a bank transfer. Instructions for payment of the healthcare fee are available on Kela’s website.
- Students can check payment details for their healthcare fees in Kela’s e-service OmaKela under Omat etuudet > Muut etuusasiat > Korkeakouluopiskelijan terveydenhoitomaksu > Maksut.
Second due date for the healthcare fee for the autumn term 2022 on 31 December
Students who register as attending for the autumn term 2022 after 30 September 2022 must pay the healthcare fee of 35.80 euros for the autumn term at the latest by 31 December 2022. The fee can be paid via the OmaKela e-service by following the instructions above.
In order to be freed from the liability to pay the fee the student must file a copy of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) with Kela. If the student has social security coverage in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the student can submit a copy of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or the Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). The copy of the card must be submitted to Kela’s Overpayment Recovery Centre.
Students can either use the OmaKela e-service to send the document or mail it to the address Kela, Overpayment Recovery Centre, PL 31, 00056 KELA. Students who live abroad and cannot use the OmaKela e-service can also send secure email to ulkomaanperinta(at)kela.fi.
Despite not paying the fee, the student may use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). In such a case, the student must be prepared to present a valid EHIC or GHIC card when visiting the FSHS. The costs for the student healthcare services used are levied from the country responsible for the student’s medical care.
Students who have registered as attending a traditional university or a university of applied sciences must pay a healthcare fee to Kela each term. The 2023 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 36.80 per term. Students can pay the fee starting now.
In 2023, the student healthcare fee in higher education is 36.80 euros per term. The fee for the whole calendar year, i.e. the spring and autumn term 2023, can be paid at the same time. Students are not billed for the fee but are expected to pay it on their own initiative.
The due date of payment is determined based on the date on which the student has registered as attending. For the spring term, the healthcare fee must be paid by 31 January at the latest, provided the student has registered as attending by then.
The healthcare fee can be paid via Kela’s e-service OmaKela. Students who cannot pay the fee via the e-service for instance because they do not have Finnish banking credentials, can pay the fee as a bank transfer. Instructions for payment of the healthcare fee are available on Kela’s website.
Students do not have to pay the healthcare fee if they have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country, from Switzerland or from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Despite not paying the fee, they may use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). Students who wish to use the services of the FSHS must be prepared to show a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) as of 1 January 2023. Students covered by social security in Great Britain and Northern Ireland can show a Global Health Insurance (GHIC) card.
If the student does not pay the healthcare fee by the due date, Kela will send the student a reminder. If the healthcare fee is paid after the due date, the student also has to pay a late-payment charge of EUR 5.
Choice to receive information letter only via the e-service
At the beginning of the spring and autumn term, Kela sends students a letter with information about the healthcare fee. Students now have the option of going paperless, i.e. receiving the letter only in the e-service. Update your information in OmaKela to go paperless. For more detailed instructions, please see Kela’s website (in Finnish only).
Additional information for customers
- How to pay the healthcare fee in higher education
- How should I proceed if I have social security coverage in another EU/EEA country, in Switzerland or in Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
- Ministry of Social Affairs and Health press release in Finnish (stm.fi): Healthcare fee for higher education students set at EUR 73.60 for 2023
- Finnish Student Health Service YTHS (yths.fi)
- Kela on Instagram
Congratulations on your admission! You can apply for student financial aid and general housing allowance when you start a new course of study. If you begin studying in a Finnish higher education institution, you must pay a student healthcare fee.
You can apply for financial aid in OmaKela as soon as you accept your offer of admission. You can apply for financial aid even if you do not yet know where and how you will live while in school.
Use the online financial aid calculator to check your eligibility for financial aid and to get an estimate.
Have you finalised your living arrangements? Apply for general housing allowance
You can use the OmaKela e-service to apply for general housing allowance as soon as you have a rental agreement and know you income for the coming spring. General housing allowance is granted to the entire household as a whole.
Use an online calculator to see whether you are eligible for general housing allowance and how much you could get. Currently, the calculator will let you estimate your housing allowance in 2022. Estimates for 2023 will become available in January.
Higher education students, remember to pay the student healthcare fee
If you are registered as attending with a Finnish higher education institution, you must pay a student healthcare fee to Kela for each term. See Kela’s website for more information about the healthcare fee and who must pay it.
There is no bill for the fee, so you must make sure to pay it in the OmaKela e-service.
Additional information for customers
- Were you admitted to higher education? How to apply for Kela benefits (in Finnish)
- Students in upper secondary education – How to apply for Kela benefits (in Finnish)
- Information on how to apply for housing allowance for shared housing (in Finnish)
- How to pay the healthcare fee in higher education
- Kela on Instagram
The income limits for student financial aid will be increased by 50 percent from 2021. Additionally, the target time to earn a degree and qualify for a student loan compensation for higher education students can be extended by one academic year. The changes will take effect on 1 January 2023.
Parliament has approved an amendment to the Act on Student Financial Aid, raising the income limits applicable to student financial aid. The amendment will also bring a change to the qualifying criteria for a student loan compensation.
The limits on annual income will be raised across the board in 2023 to a level 50 percent higher than that applicable in 2021. Compared to 2022, the income limits will go up by about 20 percent.
Students who get financial aid for 9 months can next year have up to 18,720 euros in earnings before taxes. The corresponding limit for students who receive financial aid for 10 months is 16,640 euros.
No per-month income limits apply to student financial aid. Students can earn their income at any time during the calendar year as long as it does not exceed the annual income limit.
Students studying in a country under martial law can take longer to earn a degree and qualify for a student loan compensation
Students who complete their degree within a specified target time can get a student loan compensation. In academic year 2021–2022, about 40 higher education students in Ukraine received financial aid from Finland. Having had to interrupt their studies in Ukraine following Russia’s attack on that country, these students could lose their right to a student loan compensation.
The amended law makes it possible to extend the target time for earning a degree for students attending school in a country which is under martial law. The target time can be extended by one academic year.
For example, students pursuing a 300-credit university degree typically qualify for a student loan compensation if they complete their degree in six academic years or less. However, if the country in which they study is under martial law, students can get a student loan compensation if they take seven academic years to earn their degree.
The target time to earn a degree can also be extended by one academic year for other exceptional circumstances comparable in severity to a state of war. This can include a serious mass casualty incident or natural disaster, a large-scale armed attack, or a dangerous communicable disease that has spread widely.
In 2021, the average student loan compensation for students having completed a degree in a foreign institution of higher education was 8,210 euros.
Read more
Late payment reminders were sent to higher education students who registered as attending by 30 September 2022 but did not pay the student healthcare fee by the due date.
The due date is 30 September 2022 for students in higher education who registered as attending for the autumn term by 30 September 2022. Altogether about 230,000 students paid the healthcare fee by the due date.
Some 46,000 students have yet to pay the healthcare fee. Kela has now sent these students a late payment reminder which includes a EUR 5 fixed late fee, which is set by law. The 4,500 students who paid the healthcare fee after the due date will receive a reminder from Kela about the late fee only. The payment reminder letter can also be viewed in the OmaKela e-service.
The healthcare fee that higher education students must pay to Kela covers all of the services available from the Finnish Student Health Service. There are no other fees for service or per-visit charges. The 2022 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 35.80 per term.
Read more
Healthcare fee for students in higher education
Collection of healthcare fee for higher education students
Overpayment Recovery Centre: Opening hours and contact information
Finnish Student Health Service YTHS (yths.fi)
Students in higher education who do not meet the minimum credit requirement for financial aid have received a request for further information. The deadline for replying to the request is 25 October 2022. Students can use the OmaKela e-service to reply.
The academic progress of students in higher education is assessed on the basis of financial aid data and information about the number of credits they have earned. The assessment can focus on the academic year 2021– 2022 or the entire time that a student has pursued higher education studies in Finland.
The assessment of academic progress is based on the laws governing the student financial aid system.
The number of requests for information increased over the previous year
Kela assesses the academic progress of higher education students on a yearly basis. The assessment has now been carried out for around 138,000 higher education students who received financial aid for at least three months in the academic year 2021-2022.
A request for information has been sent to 8,400 university students and 7,200 students of universities of applied sciences. Last year, a total of 13,800 students received the request, 7,100 of whom attended a university and 6,700 a university of applied sciences.
Definition of satisfactory academic progress
Academic progress is assessed on the basis of two factors:
Whether the student earned at least 20 credits in the most recent academic year (2021-2022)
Whether the student has earned at least 5 credits on average for each month on financial aid either during the most recent academic year or over the entire course of study
The 20-credit requirement does not apply to students who began their studies in spring term 2022. If a student graduated or completed a higher education degree during the academic year that the monitoring of academic progress concerns, or in the autumn before the monitoring is carried out, the student has made sufficient progress in their studies. For students who have a higher education degree and who continue their studies in higher education, academic progress is assessed for the period following the month of graduation.
The assessment of academic progress takes into account all credits earned at Finnish institutions of higher education and the number of months of financial aid used since 1 August 2011. If a student has credits from more than one institution of higher education, Kela will automatically include such credits in the assessment. Incomplete studies are taken into account as well.
Students are advised to reply promptly to the request for information
The deadline for replying to the request is 25 October 2022. Students can, for example, use the online form available on the OmaKela e-service.
Based on the reply, Kela will consider whether there are acceptable reasons for unsatisfactory academic progress. Financial aid payments to students who do not reply or whose reasons are not accepted will be stopped effective 1 January 2023.
Additional information for customers
Online information about study progress requirements
How to reply to a request for information about study progress
Telephone assistance with student financial aid: 020 634 2550, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 15:00
The Kela.fi address and the site’s contents will remain the same, but the site will undergo a redesign. E-services will be not be impacted.
The Kela.fi website will undergo a redesign on 1–2 October 2022. The site is being redesigned to improve the customer service experience and to offer added support to e-service users. The redesign will also allow a series of further changes to the website that will improve its usability and accessibility. Navigation between language versions will be streamlined and the site will become more usable on mobile devices.
“The redesign will be most visible in the website’s look and feel and the navigation features”, acting director of communications Ville Korhonen says. “The redesigned website will also be more responsive and resilient. The website addresses and the site structure will remain the same”, Korhonen adds.
Content to be added later
The redesigned Kela.fi website will be launched on an expedited schedule in order to safeguard access to services.
“Unfortunately, we will not be able at the outset to meet all of the requirements we have set for the website, but we are making a concerted effort to ensure that kela.fi will serve all of our customers as soon as possible”, Korhonen says.
The new platform will feature most of the content on the currently existing kela.fi website. Initially, the website will be available as a version that lacks certain features, such as a service point locator tool, instead of which there is a link to the suomi.fi service map.
“Also some content currently available in the partner organisation section of the current website may initially be missing”, kela.fi editor in chief Maija Luotonen says. “That section is extensive and we must carefully go through all of the contents, but we will add them to the website as quickly as possible”, she says.
E-services will continue to operate normally
The relaunch of the website on the new platform will impact the content on the site, but the e-services will not be affected. The e-services for partner organisations and employers as well as the OmaKela e-service will continue to operate normally.
Higher education students must pay the student healthcare fee on their own initiative using the OmaKela e-service. The due date for the autumn term is 30 September 2022.
So far, about 132,000 students have paid the fee for autumn term 2022. Some 140,000 students have yet to pay it.
In the week ending 11 September, Kela sent a letter to students who according to the information available to Kela had registered as attending for the autumn term 2022 but had not yet paid the healthcare fee. The letter reminds the student of the obligation to pay the fee and provides instructions for how to pay it. The letter can also be read in the OmaKela e-service.
The letter will not be sent to students who have paid the fee or who have not registered as attending.
The 2022 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 35.80 per term
In 2022, the student healthcare fee in higher education is 35.80 euros per term. Students are not billed for the fee but are expected to pay it unprompted. Students who do not pay the fee by 30 September 2022 will get a letter from Kela reminding them of it. They will also be charged a EUR 5 late fee.
The fee is used to finance healthcare services for higher education students. The State finances 77% of the costs for healthcare services for higher education students and the rest, 23%, are financed through the healthcare fee. Students who have registered as attending are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service.
Students can pay the healthcare fee for the spring term 2023 as soon as it has been confirmed, which will be at the end of November at the earliest.
Read more
Kela monitors the academic progress of students in higher education on a yearly basis. Students who have not made sufficient progress with their studies will receive a request for further information. Past financial aid payments can be returned voluntarily until 10 September 2022.
Students who receive financial aid must earn at least 20 credits per academic year. In addition, students must have earned on average at least 5 credits per month of financial aid either in the previous academic year or during the entire period of study.
If a student has received financial aid for 9 months in the academic year 2021-2022, the minimum number of credits required is 45. If the number of credits is smaller than this, the student must have earned on average at least 5 credits per month of financial aid during the entire period of study.
A month of financial aid is a month in which the student has been paid either a study grant, a housing supplement, or both. The monitoring of academic progress does not apply to general housing allowance payments.
Students who have not made enough progress with their studies will receive a request for further information
If the student has not earned enough credits during the academic year, the student will receive a request for further information at the beginning of October. The monitoring of academic progress concerns the preceding academic year (1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022) and, when needed, the entire period of study. The academic progress is monitored for the academic year as a whole, not for individual months.
When monitoring academic progress, Kela takes into account all credits earned at institutions of higher education and the number of months for which the student has received financial aid. If a student graduates or completes a higher education degree during the academic year that the monitoring of academic progress concerns, or in the autumn before the monitoring is carried out, the student has made sufficient progress in the studies.
If the slower academic progress is due to illness or some other valid reason, this can be taken into account when monitoring academic progress. The student must reply to the request for information and explain how the illness or some other reason has affected his or her academic progress.
If the student has not made sufficient academic progress and does not provide a valid reason for this, the student financial aid will be cancelled. Only if a student has earned on average less than 1 credit per month of financial aid during the preceding academic year, Kela will consider whether the student should be required to pay back some of the aid.
The number of months of financial aid taken into account in the monitoring of academic progress can be reduced by returning financial aid for the beginning of the year
Students who have not earned enough credits to meet the requirement for financial aid can return some of the financial aid payments received in the first half of the year. The repayment can be made in the OmaKela e-service, and the last day for repayment is 10 September 2022.
Students who have earned fewer than 20 credits in the previous academic year will receive a request for further information. Kela will send this request even if the student has returned the financial aid payments received in the spring 2022. This is because it is no longer possible to return financial aid received in the autumn 2021. The 20-credit requirement does not apply to students who began their studies in spring term 2022. They are, however, also required to complete at least 5 credits for each month of aid.
In the academic year 2020–2021, a total of 173,000 students in higher education received financial aid. In connection with the monitoring of academic progress carried out in autumn 2021, Kela sent 13,800 of those students a request for further information.
Additional information for customers
The amount of most Kela benefits will be increased in August as an additional adjustment was made to the National Pensions Index due to inflation.
Many benefits provided by Kela are tied to the National Pensions Index. The National Pensions Index is normally adjusted once a year, at the beginning of January, but now Parliament decided that an additional adjustment will be made to the index for the period 1.8-31.12.2022.
Benefits tied to the National Pensions Index include the national pension, guarantee pension, labour market subsidy and basic daily allowance, and the basic component of social assistance. The new benefit amounts have now been updated on Kela’s website on the web pages as well as in the tables and examples:
Benefit rates and income limits starting 1 August 2022
However, the additional adjustment does not concern all benefits. For instance child benefits are not tied to the National Pensions Index. The amounts of the general housing allowance and the housing allowance for pensioners will also not be increased because the eligibility requirements for these benefits will not change.
Higher increase in the study grant
The study grant is adjusted against the National Pensions Index annually in August, at the start of each new academic year. This year, the study grant will be increased by 5.7% as of 1 August, because the increase will comprise both the normal adjustment and the additional index adjustment.
At present, the study grant for students aged 18 or over who are living independently is EUR 268.23 per month, previously EUR 253.69 per month.
Kela will take the increased benefits into account as income
Kela will take the new benefit amounts into account as income when making decisions on and adjusting general housing allowance and housing allowance for pensioners as of 1 August 2022. This means that if a customer receives a Kela benefit that the increase concerns, the amount of the customer’s housing allowance may decrease slightly in connection with the next adjustment.
Next index adjustment on 1 January 2023
Kela will make the next adjustment to the benefit amounts at the beginning of next year. Kela will confirm the National Pensions Index for 2023 in October, as usual.
Kela has reviewed the student loans for students who continue their studies for the academic year 2022-2023. Decisions on student loan guarantees for the next academic year have been sent to 110,350 students. The first loan disbursement can be taken out starting from the beginning of August. Study grants for the upcoming academic year will be increased by 5.7%.
Kela has sent decisions granting a student loan guarantee for the upcoming academic year to 109,150 financial aid recipients and to 1,200 recipients of adult education allowance. Students who have an application for financial aid, notice of a change in circumstances or other matter which is pending will be sent a decision on their loan guarantee when the other matter is decided. This applies to 680 students.
A year ago, 111,800 students received a loan guarantee decision.
Government guarantees for student loans are granted by Kela one academic year at a time and for the maximum amount of student loan credit available under the guarantee. The typical loan guarantee is EUR 650 per month. A student can receive EUR 2,600 or EUR 3,250 in student loan in the autumn and usually EUR 3,250 in the spring.
The student loan and other forms of financial aid are intended for all the months of study in the academic year. Kela cannot grant loan guarantees that exceed the maximum amount. However, students may qualify for additional financial aid if their studies are extended into the summer months or otherwise. A larger loan guarantee can also be granted for periods of study abroad.
Students can check the period the loan guarantee is valid using the OmaKela e-service or by contacting Kela by phone.
Student loans are disbursed by banks
Students must agree with their bank when and how they will take out a student loan. The decision whether to take out a student loan and how much is up to each student.
Most students take out their student loan in two disbursements per academic year. The first disbursement is available starting from the beginning of August. Any student loan funds not yet released for the academic year 2021-2022 can be taken out before the end of July.
According to Bank of Finland statistics, the average interest rate for student loans taken out in the academic year 2021–2022 was 0.3%. The current general increase in interest rates will also result in higher rates for student loans.
Study grants will be index adjusted in August
Kela has adjusted the amounts of study grants in conjunction with issuing student loan decisions for the upcoming academic year. The euro amounts of study grants are adjusted yearly in line with changes in the national pensions index. A 5.7% increase will be made for the upcoming academic year. Starting in August 2022, study grants for students aged 18 or over who are living independently will be raised by EUR 14.54 to EUR 268.23 per month.
Kela does not issue separate decisions on the annual index adjustments. Students can check the amount of study grant they will get by logging into the OmaKela e-service. The loan guarantee decision for the next academic year also shows the amount of the study grant.
Our updated pages provide clients with easily accessible information about housing benefits in their particular situation. The pages are now better adapted to mobile devices, too.
The updated pages on housing benefits are available in Finnish, Swedish and English on Kela’s website at kela.fi.
The information structure on our updated pages gives clients easy access to information that is relevant for their place of residence or type of accommodation. The pages now have a clearer content and structure and we strive to provide explanations of difficult concepts by, for instance, giving examples.
Many clients visit our website to find information on how income affects housing allowance. Even clearer information about the impact that other benefits, wages and capital income have on the amount of benefit is now available on our updated pages.
Most of the content on the website focuses on general housing allowance, a benefit intended for clients with low incomes. The purpose of general housing allowance is to help clients cope with housing costs. In 2021, nearly 520,000 households received general housing allowance.
Easier to use on a mobile device
Our website update focused particularly on clients who browse the website on a mobile device. The content and design of the new pages allow easier access to information for mobile users. Currently, about 60 per cent of visits to our website are made by mobile users.
Background information used for the work to update our website included client feedback and the results of a client survey on Instagram.
Feedback on our new website and suggestions can be sent to kelafi@kela.fi.
Visit the updated web pages: Housing benefits - kela.fi
New students can apply for financial aid and general housing allowance payments. In upper secondary education, students can also apply for school transport subsidy. A student healthcare fee must be paid by all students enrolling in a Finnish higher education institution.
Students can use the OmaKela e-service to apply for financial aid as soon as they have accepted a place of study. They can apply for financial aid even if they do not yet know where and how they will live while in school. If they live with their parents and get financial aid, they must file a notification of changes regarding financial aid when they move out of their parents’ home.
The rates of the study grant will be raised as a result of indexation. The adjusted rates will go into effect on 1 August 2022. Kela makes the adjustment automatically, so no application is needed. The new rates of the study grant will become available in OmaKela on 4 July 2022.
Annual income limit for student financial aid.For students who take out financial aid for 9 months, the annual income limit is 15,630 euros. For students who take out financial aid for 10 months, the limit is 13,900 euros. Students can earn income at any time during the calendar year as long as it does not exceed their annual income limit. There is an online calculator that students can use to estimate their personal annual income limit.
Have you finalised your living arrangements? Apply for general housing allowance
Students can use the OmaKela e-service to apply for general housing allowance as soon as they have a rental agreement and know their income for the coming autumn. General housing allowance is granted to the entire household as a whole. The amount of the allowance depends on such things as the household's combined income and housing costs.
Students can use an online calculator to see whether they are eligible for general housing allowance and how much they could get.
Income rules under the general housing allowance scheme are different from those that apply to student financial aid, in that there is no annual income limit of the kind set out in the financial aid provisions. If recipients’ income or other circumstances relevant to the housing allowance change, they must apply for a review of their allowance as quickly as possible.
A housing supplement for students is available to persons who are studying abroad or in the Åland Islands. Additionally, it can be paid to students who are enrolled in a tuition-based programme at a Finnish folk high school or sports institute and live in the school dormitory. The same application is used as for student financial aid.
Higher education students, remember to pay the student healthcare fee
Students who register as attending with a Finnish higher education institution must pay a student healthcare fee to Kela for each term.
There is no bill for the fee, so students must make sure to pay it in the OmaKela e-service. After paying the fee, students are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service.
Do you need interpreter assistance for your studies because of a disability or impairment?
You should apply for the right to interpreter assistance as soon as you have been admitted to school. Interpreter services must be booked well in advance of when they are needed.
Read more
The deadline for higher education students to pay the student healthcare fee for the spring term 2022 expired on 31 January 2022. However, there is still time to pay the fee. The information needed to make the payment can be found in the past due notice. Unpaid healthcare fees will be referred to the enforcement authority for collection after Easter.
In February, Kela sent a past due notice to students who failed to pay the healthcare fee for students in higher education by the deadline. The due date was 31 January 2022 for students who registered as attending for the spring term by 31 January 2022.
In order to avoid collection by enforcement, the student must pay the healthcare fee immediately, using the payment details in the past due notice. Students who have misplaced the past due notice can look up the payment details in the OmaKela e-service.
Students who have not paid the healthcare fee can look up information on the fee in OmaKela under Perinnät (Collections). If the fee has been paid, no fees subject to collection are shown there. Students can also check their online bank statements or transaction histories to see if the fee has been paid.
Unpaid fees will be referred to collection after Easter
If a student has not paid the healthcare even after having been reminded of it and it has not been possible to deduct the fee from the study grant for April, the fee will be referred to the enforcement authorities for collection.
More than 250,000 students, a clear majority, have paid the fee. Kela’s records show that about 10,000 fees currently remain unpaid.
The healthcare fee that higher education students must pay to Kela covers all of the services available from the Finnish Student Health Service. There are no other fees for service or per-visit charges.
Read more
If you want to voluntarily repay student financial aid for 2021, you must do this before the end of April 2022. If overpaid financial aid is not returned in time, it is collected back at 7.5% interest.
Students whose income for 2021 exceeds a specified annual limit can voluntarily return overpaid study grant and student housing supplement payments. The annual income limit and the voluntary repayment provision do not apply to the general housing allowance. Overpaid financial aid must be paid back by Saturday, 30 April 2022.
Recipients of student financial aid can access Kela’s e-service at www.kela.fi/omakela (Finnish) or www.fpa.fi/mittfpa (Swedish) to check preliminary information about their annual income and how it affects financial aid. To log in to OmaKela, users need their online bank credentials or a mobile ID. The annual income details can be looked up by going to Omat etuudet > Opintotuki (Financial aid) > Tukikuukaudet (Months of financial aid) > Tulovalvonta (Income monitoring) > Vuositulot (Annual income).
If preliminary tax information indicates that you have exceeded your annual income limit as a student, Kela will notify you of this and give a deadline for the repayment. Kela notifies all those recipients of student financial aid who have given Kela permission to send messages. You can give Kela permission to send messages in the OmaKela e-service.
Financial aid payments can be returned online. Students can access the OmaKela e-service to see for which months they can return financial aid and how much their annual income limit will go up if they voluntarily return aid for those months. The voluntary repayment can be made online directly through the student’s bank. Another option is to print out the information needed and make the repayment by the end of April.
Check your income limit online
Students who have received financial aid for nine months are permitted to earn up to 12,498 euros in other income. For students with 10 months of financial aid the limit is 11,116 euros. Students can check their personal income limit in OmaKela or call 020 634 2550 between 9:00 and 15:00, Monday to Friday.
The income limits given above apply to 2021. A 25% increase has been made to the income limits for 2022.
With the exception of study grant payments, all taxable earnings and investment income count as income at their gross value (before any deductions). Income from abroad is also taken into account as income. Students must check for themselves how much other income they have that counts against financial aid. You can check the amount of your annual income in OmaKela, your pre-completed tax return or the Incomes Register, www.tulorekisteri.fi.
Students who received less financial aid for a particular month may choose to return that month’s financial aid payment. For higher education students, eligibility for financial aid is restored for each month for which they return financial aid.
Students whose income exceeds the annual limit and who do not return excess aid will be required to pay back the aid to Kela. In that case, the amount that must be paid back is 7.5% higher than if the aid had been returned voluntarily.
Last year, 26,150 students returned a total of 19.9 million euros voluntarily. Most of the voluntary repayments are made online.
Kela notifies the tax office of the amounts of financial aid repaid
The tax office will send taxpayers a pre-completed tax return form. Repayments of financial aid received by the end of February are taken into account in the tax return. Kela will notify the tax office of the amounts of financial aid returned voluntarily between March and April. This means that students need not revise their tax return on that account. The tax office will take into account all repayments when calculating students' final tax liability.
Read more
Late payment reminders were sent to higher education students who registered as attending by 31 January 2022 but did not pay the student healthcare fee by the due date.
The due date is 31 January 2022 for students in higher education who registered as attending for the spring term by 31 January 2022. Altogether about 213,000 students paid the healthcare fee by the due date, while about 40,000 students have yet to pay it. Around 11,000 students paid the fee late. Kela has now sent the latter group of students a late payment reminder which includes a EUR 5 fixed late fee, which is set by law. Students who paid the healthcare fee after the due date will get a reminder about the late fee. The payment reminder letter can also be viewed in the OmaKela e-service.
In January, Kela sent a letter with payment instructions to more than 200,000 students who had registered as attending by the beginning of January and had not yet paid the fee.
The healthcare fee that higher education students must pay to Kela covers all of the services available from the Finnish Student Health Service. There are no other fees for service or per-visit charges. The 2022 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 35.80 per term.
Learn more
About 41,000 students receiving financial aid had income in excess of the annual income limit in 2020. They have received a preliminary decision on the recovery of the overpaid financial aid. The number of students who exceeded the limit was smaller than in the previous year.
In 2020, 40,947 students had income in excess of the annual income limit specified in the Act on Student Financial Aid. Kela has sent them a preliminary decision on the recovery of overpaid financial aid. The average amount of financial aid that students are required to pay back is EUR 933. The total amount of financial aid proposed to be recovered under the preliminary decisions is EUR 38.2 million. In 2020, about 321,000 students received financial aid.
Last year Kela sent out preliminary decisions to 43,887 students, while the total amount recovered was EUR 39.6 million. The number of those who received a preliminary decision decreased by 2,940 from last year.
The annual income limit varies according to the number of months for which a student takes out financial aid. Students who in 2020 took out financial aid for nine months can have earned other income of up to EUR 12,498.
The income limits were raised by 25% at the beginning of 2022. The annual income limit is now EUR 15,630 for students who get financial aid for nine months.
The income check performed now only concerns student financial aid, i.e. study grants and housing supplements. The annual income check does not concern general housing allowance.
One-month deadline for submitting a review request
If the reason for exceeding the annual income limit is income earned during other periods than periods of active study, the overpayment debt may be reduced or waived altogether. Income earned during other periods than periods of active study can include for instance income earned after graduation.
Students can file a review request in which they should provide details of their studies and specify when the income was earned. The deadline for filing a review request is 17 March 2022. Students must provide details of their studies and when they earned their income if they started a course of study, graduated or used up their maximum financial aid entitlement during 2020. In previous years, about one quarter of those who were sent a repayment proposal were new or graduated students. The preliminary decision contains instructions for how to file a review request or agree on repayment arrangements.
Kela uses the national incomes register to carry out the income checks. Kela has checked the income of higher education students who began their studies, graduated or used up their entitlement during 2020. If it is certain, according to this check, that the income earned during the periods of active study has not been too high, Kela does not send a preliminary decision to the student and the student does not need to file a request for review. Following the check of the data in the national incomes register, the number of preliminary decisions decreased by 3,584.
If a student who has started a course of study, graduated or used up his or her maximum financial aid entitlement during 2019 still receives a preliminary decision, the student does not have to enclose any documentation on the incomes that have been entered in the national incomes register with the request for review.
Students must keep track of their income total
Students must keep track of their annual income so as not to exceed the income limit. Financial aid can be cancelled, stopped or returned easily using the OmaKela e-service.
The deadline for returning financial aid voluntarily for 2021 is the end of April 2022. If a student does not cancel or return financial aid, any overpayments of aid are recovered and are subject to a surcharge of 7.5%. This is not interest but a one-time payment.
Learn more
EDIT 27.1.2022. Please note tht the deadline of the payment is 31 January 2022.
Higher education students must pay the student healthcare fee on their own initiative using the OmaKela e-service. Kela does not bill students for the fee. The due date for the spring term is 31 January 2022.
Students who attend a traditional university or a university of applied sciences and who are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) must pay a healthcare fee to Kela. To date, about 50,000 students have paid the fee, and about 210,000 have yet to pay it.
During the week ending 9 January, Kela sent a letter to students who according to the information available to Kela had registered as attending for the spring term 2022 but had not yet paid the healthcare fee. The letter reminds the student of the obligation to pay the fee and provides instructions for how to pay it. The letter can also be read on the OmaKela e-service. Students who registered as attending this January may not have received the letter.
The letter will not be sent to students who have paid the fee or who have not registered as attending.
The 2022 rate of the student healthcare fee is 35.80 euros per term
In 2022, the student healthcare fee in higher education is 35.80 euros per term. Students are not billed for the fee but are expected to pay it unprompted. Students who do not pay the fee by 31 January 2022 will get a letter from Kela reminding them of it. They will also be charged a EUR 5 late fee.
If a student does not pay the healthcare fee after having been reminded of it, Kela can withhold the healthcare fee and the late fee from study grant payments without consulting the student. If the healthcare fee cannot be withheld from the study grant payments, it will be referred to the enforcement authority for collection.
The fee is used to finance healthcare services for higher education students. The State finances 77% of the costs for healthcare services for higher education students and the rest, 23%, are financed through the healthcare fee.
Students can pay the fee for both the spring and autumn term 2022 at the same time.
Learn more
Autumn 2021
The income limits as regards student financial aid will be increased by a quarter for 2022. In 2022 the annual income limit will be EUR 15,630 for students who get financial aid for nine months.
The income limits as regards student financial aid will be temporarily increased by 25 percent for 2022. Students who get financial aid for nine months can in 2022 earn about 3,000 euros more than in 2021 without exceeding the annual income limit.
In 2022 the annual income limit is calculated on the basis that for each month for which the student receives financial aid, the income limit is 870 euros and for each aid-free month 2,600 euros. The income may be earned at any time during the calendar year as long as it does not exceed the annual income limit.
The higher annual income limits only concern student financial aid granted for 2022. It is possible that the annual income limits will be lowered for 2023.
The increase in income limits only concerns student financial aid. For instance the income limits as regards general housing allowance will only be increased by about 2 percent.
The legislative amendment has been approved by Parliament and is currently awaiting confirmation by the President.
Read more
Kela assesses the academic progress of higher education students on a yearly basis. This autumn the academic progress of about 131,600 higher education students was assessed. Based on this, financial aid payments will be stopped for about 3 000 students.
In autumn 2021, more requests to provide further information were sent than last year. When monitoring the academic progress for the academic year 2019-2020, more lenient criteria concerning the required credits obtained were applied to all higher education students due to the coronavirus epidemic.
When monitoring the academic progress for the academic year 2020-2021, the more lenient criteria were no longer applied.If the coronavirus epidemic affected academic progress in the academic year 2020-2021, the student had to provide information about this in the reply to the request for further information.
For an estimated 3 000 students, the student financial aid will be discontinued as of January because the student has not earned enough credits. For about 1,700 of these students, the payments are stopped because they did not reply to the request for further information.
What can students do if financial aid payments are stopped?
If the financial aid payments have been stopped because the student forgot to reply to the request for further information, he or she can request a review of the cancellation decision.
These students are sent a decision letter explaining what they can do to requalify for financial aid. Students can requalify for financial aid when they, after the financial aid payments were stopped, have obtained at least the minimum number of credits required. Students can also be granted financial aid again if there is a valid reason for not completing the required number of credits. Valid reasons include for instance illness or other difficult personal circumstances.
The decision is also accompanied by information about other kinds of support available to students.
The healthcare fee for higher education students for the autumn term 2021 should have been paid at the latest by 30 September 2021. Unpaid healthcare fees will be referred to the enforcement authority for collection in the middle of December.
At the end of October, Kela sent a past due notice to students who had not paid the student healthcare fee in time. The due date was 30 September 2021 for students who registered as attending for the autumn term by 30 September 2021.
If a student has not paid the healthcare fee even after having been reminded of it, and it has not been possible to deduct the fee from the study grant for December, the fee will be referred to the enforcement authority for collection. According to Kela’s current information, 7 500 fees will be referred to the enforcement authority.
In order to avoid collection by enforcement, the student must pay the healthcare fee immediately, using the payment details in the past due notice. If the student no longer has the past due notice that was sent by post to the home address, the payment details can be checked online in the OmaKela e-service.
If a student has not paid the healthcare fee, the fee is shown in OmaKela under Perinnät (Collections). If the fee has been paid, no fees subject to collection are shown there. Students can also check their online bank statements or transaction histories to see if the fee has been paid.
Read more
Students who attend a traditional university or a university of applied sciences and who are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (Finnish abbreviation YTHS) must pay a healthcare fee to Kela. In 2022, the fee is EUR 35.80 per term. You can pay the fee already now.
In 2022, the student healthcare fee in higher education is EUR 35.80 per term. The fee for the whole calendar year, i.e. the spring and autumn term 2022, can be paid at the same time. Students are not billed for the fee but are expected to pay it on their own initiative.
The due date of payment is determined based on the date on which the student has registered as attending. For the spring term, the healthcare fee must be paid by 31 January at the latest, provided the student have registered as attending by then.
You can pay the healthcare fee via the OmaKela e-service. If you cannot pay the fee via the e-service for instance because you do not have Finnish banking credentials, the fee can be paid as a bank transfer. Instructions for payment of the healthcare fee are available on Kela’s website.
The fee must be paid even though the student graduates during the term. Students are entitled to use the student healthcare services to the end of the term for which they have registered as attending even though they graduate during the term. For more information on the services available from YTHS, see its website.
The healthcare fee must be paid on time
If the student does not pay the healthcare fee by the due date, Kela will send the student a reminder. If the healthcare fee is paid after the due date, the student also has to pay a late-payment charge of EUR 5.
If the student does not pay the healthcare fee after having been reminded of it, Kela can withhold the healthcare fee and the late-payment charge from study grant payments without consulting the student. If the healthcare fee cannot be withheld from the study grant payments, it will be referred to the enforcement authority for collection.