Maximum period of eligibility in a university
Your maximum period of eligibility depends on the extent of your degree programme and when you first registered as attending for a course of study in higher education.
Bachelor's and master's degrees
If you are completing both a bachelor's and a master's degree, you initially get financial aid for the bachelor's degree. You can get financial aid towards the master's degree when you have completed a bachelor's degree.
Even though you get financial separately for the two degrees, you can only get financial aid for the combined maximum period of eligibility. If you use up many months of financial aid when completing a bachelor's degree, you will have fewer months left over for the master's degree.
Conversely, if you use few months of financial aid to earn a bachelor's degree, you have the maximum number of financial aid months left over for the master's degree. However, any months of financial aid left over from the bachelor's degree do not increase the maximum eligibility period for the master's degree.
If you have received financial aid for higher education before, any months of financial aid for higher education you have used previously are deducted
- from the total maximum eligibility period for the degrees you are completing if you have not earned a university degree, or
- from 54, 64 or 70 months of financial aid if you have earned a university degree. Read more about completing more than one course of study in higher education.
The months of financial aid left over are applied towards the bachelor's degree. However, you can only get financial aid towards the bachelor's degree up to the number of months which corresponds to the maximum eligibility period for that particular degree.
The period of eligibility for the master's degree will not be known until you have completed a bachelor's degree.
Example: first course of higher education study begun between 1 August 2014 and 31 July 2017
A student is completing both a bachelor's and a master's degree. She has available 32 months of financial assistance for the bachelor's degree (180 cr) and 23 months for the master's degree (120 cr), but her total entitlement is 50 months of financial aid.
She has previously used 17 months for a course of study in higher education that she did not complete. She can use 32 months of financial aid towards a bachelor's degree, and in the end she uses 27 months. She has only 6 months of financial aid remaining for completing a master's degree (50 - 17 - 27 = 6).
More information about financial aid for bachelor's and master's level university degrees.
First course of higher education study begun on or after 1 August 2017
Your maximum period of eligibility depends on the extent of the degree programme as follows:
- 60 credits or one academic year of study makes you eligible for 9 months of financial aid.
- 30 credits or half an academic year, if preceded or followed by a full academic year of study, makes you eligible for 5 months of financial aid.
- Your maximum period of eligibility is the calculated period of financial aid plus another 3 months of aid.
| Degree and extent of the programme (bachelor's + master's = total) | Maximum period of eligibility for bachelor's degree in months | Maximum period of eligibility for master's degree in months | Total maximum period of eligibility in months |
|---|---|---|---|
| typical university degree (180 + 120 = 300 cr) | 30 | 21 | 48 |
| Master of Psychology or Master of Music (180 + 150 = 330 cr) | 30 | 26 | 53 |
| Master of Fine Arts (210 + 120 = 330 cr) | 35 | 21 | 53 |
| Licentiate degree in Veterinary Medicine (180 + 180 = 360 cr) | 30 | 30 | 57 |
| Licentiate degree in Dentistry* (330 cr) | 53 | ||
| Licentiate degree in Medicine* (360 cr) | 57 |
* Licentiate degrees in dentistry and medicine are not preceded by a separate bachelor's degree, which means that you can be awarded financial aid directly for the maximum period of eligibility.
The maximum number of months of financial aid is 57 months also when you are completing
- a university degree that consists of at least 360 credits,
- several university degrees that together consist of at least 360 credits,
- a degree or qualification at a foreign higher education institution and the expected duration of the studies is at least 6 academic years, or
- several degrees or qualifications at a foreign higher education institution and the total expected duration of the studies is at least 6 academic years.
Example
Your maximum period of eligibility for a bachelor's degree is 30 months (180 cr) and for a master's degree 21 months (120 cr). The total period of eligibility is 48 months.
If you use no more than 27 months of financial aid towards a bachelor's degree, you have the full 21 months of financial aid available for a master's degree. If you use the full 30 months of eligibility towards a bachelor's degree, you only have 18 months left for a master's degree.
| Degree | Extent of the programme in credits | Target time to degree in academic years | Maximum period of eligibility in months |
|---|---|---|---|
| master’s level degree organised in international cooperation | 60 | 1 | 12 |
| master’s level degree organised in international cooperation | 90 | 1,5 | 17 |
| typical master’s level university degree | 120 | 2 | 21 |
| Master of Psychology or Master of Music | 150 | 2,5 | 26 |
| Typical bachelor's level degree or licentiate degree in veterinary medicine | 180 | 3 | 30 |
| Bachelor of Fine Arts | 210 | 3,5 | 35 |
First course of higher education study begun between 1 August 2014 and 31 July 2017
Your maximum period of eligibility depends on the extent of the degree programme as follows:
- 60 credits or one academic year of study makes you eligible for 9 months of financial aid.
- 30 credits or half an academic year, if preceded or followed by a full academic year of study, makes you eligible for 5 months of financial aid.
- Your maximum period of eligibility is the calculated period of financial aid plus another 5 months of aid.
| Degree and extent of the programme (bachelor's + master's = total) | Maximum period of eligibility for bachelor's degree in months | Maximum period of eligibility for master's degree in months | Total maximum period of eligibility in months |
|---|---|---|---|
| typical university degree (180 + 120 = 300 cr) | 32 | 23 | 50 |
| Master of Psychology or Master of Music (180 + 150 = 330 cr) | 32 | 28 | 55 |
| Master of Fine Arts (210 + 120 = 330 cr) | 37 | 23 | 55 |
| Licentiate degree in Veterinary Medicine (180 + 180 = 360 cr) | 32 | 32 | 59 |
| Licentiate degree in Dentistry* (330 cr) | 55 | ||
| Licentiate degree in Medicine* (360 cr) | 59 | ||
| degree with a major in Asian and African studies (180 + 120 = 300 cr) | 32 | 23 | 55 + 9** |
* Licentiate degrees in dentistry and medicine are not preceded by a separate bachelor's degree, which means that you can be awarded financial aid directly for the maximum period of eligibility.
** Apply for aid in the form of additional financial aid for the normal duration of studies. Additional financial aid can be granted without any special reason being specified.
Example
Your maximum period of eligibility for a bachelor's degree is 32 months (180 cr) and for a master's degree 23 months (120 cr). The total period of eligibility is 50 months.
If you use no more than 27 months of financial aid towards a bachelor's degree, you have the full 23 months of financial aid available for a master's degree. If you use the full 32 months of eligibility towards a bachelor's degree, you only have 18 months left for a master's degree.
| Degree | Extent of the programme in credits | Target time to degree in academic years | Maximum period of eligibility in months |
|---|---|---|---|
| typical master’s level university degree | 120 | 2 | 23 |
| Master of Psychology or Master of Music | 150 | 2.5 | 2.8 |
| typical bachelor's level university degree or master degree in veterinary medicine | 180 | 3 | 32 |
| Bachelor of Fine Arts | 210 | 3.5 | 37 |
First course of higher education study begun before 1 August 2014: course of study begun on or after 1 August 2011
Your maximum period of eligibility depends on the extent of the degree programme as follows:
- 60 credits or one academic year of study makes you eligible for 9 months of financial aid.
- 30 credits or half an academic year, if preceded or followed by a full academic year of study, makes you eligible for 5 months of financial aid.
- Your maximum period of eligibility is the calculated period of financial aid plus another 10 months of aid.
| Degree and extent of the programme (bachelor's + master's = total) | Maximum period of eligibility for bachelor's degree in months | Maximum period of eligibility for master's degree in months | Total maximum period of eligibility in months |
|---|---|---|---|
| typical university degree (180 + 120 = 300 cr) | 37 | 28 | 55 |
| Master of Psychology or Master of Music (180 + 150 = 330 cr) | 37 | 33 | 60 |
| Master of Fine Arts (210 + 120 = 330 cr) | 42 | 28 | 60 |
| Licentiate degree in Veterinary Medicine (180 + 180 = 360 cr) | 37 | 37 | 64 |
| Licentiate degree in Dentistry* (330 cr) | 60 | ||
| Licentiate degree in Medicine* (360 cr) | 64 | ||
| degree with a major in Asian and African studies (180 + 120 = 300 cr) | 37 | 28 | 64 |
* Licentiate degrees in dentistry and medicine are not preceded by a separate bachelor's degree, which means that you can be awarded financial aid directly for the maximum period of eligibility.
Example
Your maximum period of eligibility for a bachelor's degree is 37 months (180 cr) and for a master's degree 28 months (120 cr). The total period of eligibility is 55 months.
If you use no more than 27 months of financial aid towards a bachelor's degree, you have the full 28 months of financial aid available for a master's degree. If you use the full 37 months of eligibility towards a bachelor's degree, you only have 18 months left for a master's degree.
| Degree | Extent of the programme in credits | Target time to degree in academic years | Maximum period of eligibility for financial aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| master’s level university degree, foreign student | 90 | 1.5 | 24 |
| typical master’s level university degree | 120 | 2 | 28 |
| Master of Psychology or Master of Music | 150 | 2.5 | 33 |
| bachelor's level university degree or licentiate degree in medicine or veterinary medicine | 180 | 3 | 37 |
| Bachelor of Fine Arts | 210 | 3.5 | 42 |