Student loan compensation

If you earn a first-cycle degree in a university, you can decide for yourself whether to apply for the student loan compensation on the basis of the first-cycle degree or whether to defer it until you have completed a second-cycle degree.

However, if you want to get the compensation for a first-cycle degree earned in a university, you must apply for it separately within 2 years of completing the degree.

You can be granted a student loan compensation for a second-cycle degree attained at a university of applied sciences, but only if it is the first higher education degree that you attain.

If you have for instance completed a degree from a university of applied sciences and later start studies for a second-cycle degree from a university of applied sciences, you cannot get a student loan compensation for the second-cycle degree.

The target time for completing the degree starts from the beginning of the term in which you accepted an offer of admission to an institution of higher education for the first time. The target time ends on the last day of the term in which you complete the degree.

The target time for completing the degree starts

• on 1 August if you accept your first offer of admission for studies that begin in the autumn term (1 August-31 December)

• on 1 January if you accept your first offer of admission for studies that begin in the spring term (1 January-31 July).

The target time for completing the degree ends

• on 31 July if you complete the degree in the spring term (1 January-31 July)
• on 31 December if you complete the degree in the autumn term (1 August-31 December).

If you accepted an offer of admission to an institution of higher education for the first time before 1 August 2014 but registered as attending for the first time on or after 1 August 2014, the target time for completing the degree starts on 1 August 2014.

If you complete a first-cycle degree and a second-cycle degree, or only a second-cycle degree, the target time for completing the degree is calculated by adding one year to the regular degree completion time.

 If you complete a second-cycle university degree exclusively, the target time depends on the combined extent of the first-cycle and second-cycle degree programmes.

If you complete a degree in a university of applied sciences or some other first-cycle degree, the target time for completing the degree is calculated by adding 0.5 years to the regular degree completion time.

If you have been in military or non-military service during one term for a continuous period of at least 30 days, the target time can be extended by one term, i.e. 0.5 academic years.

If you get ill and you have received sickness allowance, infectious disease allowance, or rehabilitation subsidy, a pension or compensation on account of full incapacity for work during one term for a continuous period of at least 30 days, the target time can be extended by one term, i.e. 0.5 academic years.

The target time can in these situations be extended by at the most 2 academic years in total. In Finland, the term dates are 1 January - 31 July and 1 August - 31 December.

If the period of service or payment of a benefit lasts for a continuous period of at least 30 days, but not exclusively within any individual term, the target time can still be extended by 0.5 academic years.

If you have had a child, we can extend the target time with all the terms for which you have received pregnancy allowance, maternity allowance, paternity allowance or parental allowance for a continuous period of at least 30 days.

Even if you during any individual term have had several reasons which entitle to an extension of the target time, we can only extend the target time by one term, i.e. 0.5 academic years.

If you take longer than normal to complete your studies but we cannot accept the reason for the slowed study progress, the target time for completing the studies cannot be extended.

For instance the following situations are not acceptable reasons for granting an extension to the target time:

• Child care, if you have received child home care allowance or partial parental allowance
• Rehabilitation, if you have received rehabilitation allowance or partial sickness allowance
• Illness, if you have not received sickness allowance or some other benefit that entitles to an extension of the target time
• Employment
• Active participation in a student organisation
• Discontinuation of previous studies
• Studying for more than one degree
• Changing your line of study.

If your graduation was delayed because of the coronavirus epidemic, it is possible to extend the target time for completing your degree.

The target time can also be extended if the start of your studies was postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic. If you study in a Finnish institution of higher education and you registered as non-attending due to the coronavirus epidemic, your studies are considered to have started from the beginning of the first term when you registered as attending. If you study in a foreign higher education institution and you postponed the start of your studies due to the coronavirus epidemic, your studies are considered to have begun on the first day of the term during which you actually started your studies.

If you did not graduate within the target time for completing the degree, we will automatically send you a negative preliminary decision. In such a case, request a review of the preliminary decision and tell us in your request how the coronavirus epidemic affected your studies so that they were prolonged or the start of the studies was postponed.

If your studies were prolonged, tell us in the request for a review which studies were affected by the delay and how the epidemic delayed your studies. If the start of your studies was postponed, tell us about the government regulation or other reason related to the epidemic due to which you registered as non-attending. If you studied in a foreign higher education institution, also indicate when you in fact started studying.

You can write the request in your own words. You do not need to enclose any certificates with your request. The reasons for a delay in your studies may have to do with the study arrangements, with travel restrictions or other government recommendations, or with your or your family member's health or general life situation.

If you wish to receive a student loan compensation on the basis of a first-cycle university degree that you completed, you will not receive a decision automatically. Instead you will have to apply for it. File your application for a student loan compensation within 2 years of completing the degree. State in the application for a student loan compensation (form OT 30e) (PDF) that the start of your studies was postponed or your studies were prolonged due to the coronavirus epidemic.

If you have not been able to complete all the studies included in your degree within the target time due to martial law in the country where you studied, we can extend the target time by one academic year.

The target time can also be extended by one academic year, if your graduation was delayed by some other exceptional situation that can be compared to martial law in its seriousness. This can include serious mass casualty incidents or natural disasters, large-scale armed attacks, or dangerous communicable diseases that have spread widely. The effect of the martial law or other exceptional situation must fall within the target time for completing the degree.

If you in such a situation get a negative preliminary decision on the student loan compensation, request a review of the preliminary decision. Please state the following in your request:

• the serious and exceptional circumstances that affected your studies
• in what way and during what time period the circumstances affected your studies
• which studies included in your degree you had to postpone.

If you are unsure whether the exceptional circumstances in your country of study may entitle you to an extension of the target time, please contact us.

The maximum amount of student loan taken into account in the student loan compensation and the maximum amount of compensation depend on the degree you complete.

The maximum amount of student loan taken into account in the student loan compensation and the maximum amount of compensation depend on the degree you complete.

If you have completed a first-cycle university degree, you can decide for yourself whether to apply for a student loan compensation or whether to retain your right to it until you have completed a second-cycle degree.

1. Save the application form Application for student loan compensation OT 30e (PDF) to your device and fill it in after saving it.
2. Log in to the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) ​​​​​and select Tee hakemus (Complete an application) – Opiskelu (Students) – Opintolainan korkoavustus, opintolainahyvitys tai -vähennys - tee hakemus (Interest assistance with student loans, student loan compensation or deduction - file an application). Select the form on your device and send it.
3. If you have supporting documents, send them via OmaKela (at Lähetä liite/Send an attachment) after you have submitted your application. If they are paper documents, you can photograph or scan them.

If you cannot use OmaKela, print out the completed form and send it and any supporting documents to the address Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

You must apply for the student loan compensation within 2 years of completing the first-cycle degree. For example, if you complete the degree on 24 May 2025, your application must reach Kela by 24 May 2027.

If you have already paid back all your student loans and Kela is not collecting student loan debt from you, we will pay the student loan compensation directly to you.

If we as guarantors of your student loan have paid your loan to the bank, we will not pay the student loan compensation to the bank. We will primarily use the compensation to pay off on the student loan debt we are collecting from you.

1. Ask for a review by sending us a message in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish). The message can be free of form.
2. Go to Lähetä ja lue viestejä (Send and read messages). Under Aihe (Topic), select Opiskelu (Studies) and then Opintolainahyvitys (Student loan compensation). Then select Uudelleenkäsittelypyyntö (Request for review).
3. Send us the necessary documents in OmaKela by selecting Lähetä liite (Send a supporting document). The necessary documents are mentioned in the instructions in the preliminary decision.

If you cannot use OmaKela, you can ask for a review by calling Kela’s customer service. You can also mail the request and any supporting documents to the address Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

We will process your request and issue a new decision. The new decision can be appealed to the Appeal Board.