Student financial aid to be discontinued for some students; it is possible to reapply for financial aid later

Kela monitors study progress annually for students in upper secondary education and higher education. This autumn, the academic progress of some 230,000 higher education students was monitored. Based on the monitoring results, student financial aid will be discontinued for about 3,200 students.

Kela monitors study progress in higher education annually. In addition, monitoring of study progress in upper secondary education was begun in autumn 2023. Through the monitoring, Kela checks whether the eligibility criteria for financial aid are met.

In autumn 2023, Kela monitored the academic progress of some 230,000 students. Based on the monitoring results, Kela sent a request for further information to about 15,500 students in higher education and about 6,000 students in upper secondary education.

Student financial aid will be discontinued for a total of about 3,200 students. Of these students, about 1,900 are in higher education and about 1,300 are in upper secondary education. Thus student financial aid will be discontinued for only 1.4% of the students whose progress was monitored.

Student financial aid will be discontinued for students who have not earned enough credits and who have not notified Kela of an acceptable reason for their slow progress. Acceptable reasons include, for instance, illness or some other difficult life situation.

If the financial aid payments are discontinued because the student forgot to reply to a request for further information, the student can request a review of the decision to discontinue payment.

Student financial aid is usually discontinued with effect from 1 January 2024. If payments are discontinued as of some other date, that information will be included in the decision to discontinue payment.

Students can file a new application for financial aid after the aid has been discontinued

If student financial aid has been discontinued due to lack of progress in the studies, the student may nevertheless receive student financial aid again later on. Students can requalify for financial aid after the discontinuation of financial aid payments on condition that they subsequently earn at least the minimum number of credits required. The decision to discontinue payment includes more specific information on the number of credits required. The decision also includes information on the other forms of support that the student can apply for in place of student financial aid.

Student financial aid seldom results in recovery

Student financial aid seldom leads to recovery proceedings as a consequence of the monitoring of academic progress. Financial aid is only recovered if it is discovered that the student has completed exceptionally few credits and has never intended to study.

Additional information for customers

• Study progress (kela.fi)
• Press release 29 August 2023: Kela starts monitoring academic progress in secondary education in autumn 2023 (kela.fi)
• Press release 15 September 2023:Are you a student in secondary education and have received a request for further information on your academic progress? Reply in OmaKela
• Press release 4 October 2023:Are you a higher education student and have received a request for further information on your academic progress? Reply to the request in OmaKela
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