Were you granted a place of study? Use the OmaKela e-service to apply for benefits and remember to pay the student healthcare fee on time

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 are in upper secondary education, you can also apply for school transport subsidy. If you begin studying in a Finnish higher education institution, you must pay a student healthcare fee.

You can apply for student financial aid in OmaKela as soon as you accept your offer of admission. You can apply for student financial aid even if you do not yet know where and how you will live while in school.

Use our online calculator (available in Finnish and Swedish) to check your eligibility for student 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 you know your income for the coming autumn. General housing allowance is granted to an entire household as a whole.

You can use our online calculator (available in Finnish and Swedish) to see whether you are eligible for general housing allowance and how much you could get.

If you are studying abroad or in the Åland Islands, you may be eligible for a student housing supplement. 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.

Are you in upper secondary education? Remember to apply for school transport subsidy

You can apply for school transport subsidy if you are in upper secondary education and you have a long commute to school. Use our online calculator (available in Finnish and Swedish) to check your eligibility for school transport subsidy. You can apply for the subsidy using a handy new online application in OmaKela.

Are you a higher education student? Pay the student healthcare fee in time

If you are registered as attending a Finnish higher education institution, you must pay a student healthcare fee to Kela each term on your own initiative. The due date for the autumn term payment is 30 September 2023, and you can pay the fee immediately if you wish. It is not yet possible to pay the 2024 spring term healthcare fee because the amount of next year’s fee has not been confirmed yet.

If you are completing a higher education degree and are registered as attending, you have the right to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS). FSHS provides health care services, mental health services and oral health services. FSHS also promotes the wellbeing of student communities.

Would you prefer to receive decisions only in electronic form? It is now possible for student benefits

You can choose to receive certain decisions and letters on benefits for students only in electronic form. If you have indicated in the OmaKela e-service that you wish to receive decisions or letters only in electronic form, you will get an email or text message to notify you of new decisions or letters in OmaKela.

You can make the choice to go paperless in OmaKela on the page Päivitä omia tietojasi (Update your information). Please note, however, that some decisions and letters (e.g. school transport subsidy decisions) are only sent as paper documents for the time being.

Additional information for customers