The government guarantee for student loans and the provider supplement to the study grant will be increased

The amount of the government guarantee for student loans will be increased and the number of disbursements of student loan funds will be changed. The provider supplement to the study grant will also be increased. The changes will take effect in stages during 2024.

The Parliament has approved amendments to the Act on Student Financial Aid that will result in changes to the study grant and student loans.

From the beginning of 2024, the provider supplement to the study grant will be increased by a total of 30 euros. In practice, the change will be 20 euros compared to the current amount, because a temporary increase of 10 euros has been paid to the provider supplement in 2023. The new monthly amount of the provider supplement will be EUR 141.63.

The Government also proposes that no index adjustments be made to the study grant between 2024 and 2027. As a result, the amount of the study grant would remain the same. For example, an 18-year-old student living alone would receive a study grant of EUR 279.38 per month, the same amount as before.

More student loan available in the future

Following the amendments to the Act on Student Financial Aid, the amounts of the government guarantee to student loans will be increased. The amount of the loan guarantee will be increased from EUR 650 to EUR 850 per month for students who are over 18 years old and studying in Finland. For those studying abroad, the increase will be from EUR 800 to EUR 1,000. As such, the amount of the loan guarantee will be 200 euros higher than before.

For students under 18 in upper secondary education, the amount of the guarantee will be increased from EUR 300 to EUR 400 per month, which is 100 euros higher than before.

In addition, the number of disbursements of student loan funds will change. Going forward, student loan funds will be available for students in upper secondary education in four disbursements over the academic year regardless of the duration of the studies. For courses in higher education that last a maximum of 12 months, the number of disbursements will be two instead of the current one. However, for studies that are completed entirely abroad the number of disbursements will remain the same.

The changes concerning student loans will take effect on 1 August 2024.

Additional information for customers

•    Financial aid for students (kela.fi)
• All press releases about the changes to the social security benefits are available at theChanges to social security benefits page