Amount of the student loan

The amount that the government loan guarantee covers depends on your age and your school.

With our calculator (in Finnish) you can estimate the amount of financial aid you can get based on the data you enter. You do not have to be logged in to use it.

Find out more about the amount of the student loan, if the loan and other financial aid are not enough.

Applying to a bank for a student loan

If you get a student loan guarantee from Kela, you can apply for a student loan at any bank of your choice. Take a look at the bank’s instructions for applying for a student loan for example by visiting its website. The bank decides whether to give you a loan.

The decision on student financial aid includes information on the maximum amounts of student loan, the instalments and the disbursement dates. You can withdraw the student loan for the academic year in four or two instalments, or in one instalment. No exceptions can be made to the disbursement dates. Ask your bank what you need to do to have the loan funds deposited into your account. You do not need to take out the whole student loan from the bank, you can take out only the amount you need.

In the OmaKela e-service, you can look up your financial aid decision and see your loan details, including any loan amounts that are available for disbursement. Please note that our e-service is only available in Finnish and Swedish.

Student loan disbursement dates

Student loan disbursement dates for higher education students:

• Disbursement for the autumn term: Earliest date 1 August
• Disbursement for the spring term: Earliest date 1 January

Student loan disbursement dates for other students than higher education students:

• Disbursement for August-October: Earliest date 1 August
• Disbursement for November-December: Earliest date 1 November
• Disbursement for January-March: Earliest date 1 January
• Disbursement for April-May: Earliest date 1 April (may also include disbursement for June-July)

In the following situations, you can have your student loan for an entire academic year disbursed to you in a single instalment:

• You complete an entire course of study abroad.
• You complete scientific post-graduate studies or post-graduate studies in fine arts at a university
• You are paid adult education allowance.

There is usually also the option of having loan instalments disbursed later during the same academic year (1 August - 31 July).

Check the financial aid decision or the OmaKela e-service for the last possible disbursement date. You cannot draw down the student loan after that date. Please note that our e-service is only available in Finnish and Swedish.

Further, you cannot draw down any student loan funds after you have graduated or otherwise ended your course of study. However, you will be covered by any government loan guarantees issued for loans already disbursed to you.

If you cancel your financial aid beforehand, you cannot receive loan instalments with a disbursement date later than the date on which your financial aid was cancelled.