€279.38

study grant / month (living independently, 18+)

€296

housing supplement cap, group I

€850

loan guarantee / month

€20,127

income limit with 9 aid months

The study grant: age and living arrangements decide

The study grant is money you do not pay back, though it is taxable. The amount does not depend on your results or your field, but on your age and on whether you live independently or with your parents. For students under 20 and those living with parents, parental income can also reduce the grant.

The guardian figure is the basic grant plus a guardian supplement of 141.63 euros. The supplement is paid to each guardian of a minor child separately, so in a family with two student parents both receive it.

The housing supplement, and why 80% rarely materialises

The student housing supplement replaced the general housing allowance for students on 1 August 2025. It is 80% of accepted rent, but only up to the cap for your municipality group. The caps are 296 euros in group I (Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa), 248 euros in group II (Tampere, Turku, Oulu and other mid-sized cities) and 216 euros in group III. In a flat owned or rented by a parent the cap is 83 euros, and for studies abroad 210 euros.

Accepted housing costs include rent or a maintenance charge plus fixed fees. Heating, metered water, internet, a parking space and the sauna are left out. The supplement is paid only for aid months, and only your own income affects it — not your parents and not your flatmate. A student living with a child stays within the general housing allowance system.

The government loan guarantee

The guarantee means Kela stands behind a student loan taken from a bank. It does not depend on your income or your parents, and banks grant the loan in almost every case. The guarantee is 850 euros a month for an adult studying in Finland, 400 euros for someone under 18 or in upper secondary education, and 1,000 euros for studies abroad.

The loan is drawn once or twice a term and repaid after graduation. A student loan is not income: it does not count towards the annual income limit or towards social assistance. After graduating, the loan can be reduced through the student loan compensation or the student loan tax deduction if the degree is completed on time.

The annual income limit: how much you can earn

The limit is set for the calendar year according to how many months you draw aid. Each aid month adds 1,118 euros to the limit and each month without aid adds 3,355. The limit counts your own earned and capital income for the whole year — including summer work and months with no aid. Kela benefits and the student loan are not counted.

Each cancelled aid month raises the limit by 2,237 euros. That is the fastest way to fix things if more work turns up than expected: cancel aid months in OmaKela before the year ends, or return aid already paid. The last day for returning it is the end of March the following year.

Study progress: five credits a month

A higher education student must complete an average of at least 5 credits for every aid month and at least 20 credits in each academic year. Kela checks the total automatically once a year. If credits fall short, Kela sends a request for an explanation and it is worth answering: illness, difficult personal circumstances or the thesis stage are accepted reasons. Not replying leads to the aid being discontinued.

The study grant is taxable income, but on the grant alone no tax is withheld in practice, because the sum stays below the basic deduction. Tax enters the picture once wages accumulate on top. The housing supplement and the loan guarantee are not taxable.