TREY influences the students’ income together with other student associations. TREY’s Specialists in Social Affairs will advise you on issues concerning income.
If you are a foreign student, check your eligibility for financial aid on Kela’s page here. Also check out Kela’s Centre for International Affairs.
Financial aid for students
The financial aid consists of a study grant liable for tax, government guarantee for a student loan and student loan tax deduction. The qualifying conditions for student financial aid are full-time studying and academic progress. You can apply for financial aid online in Kela’s eServices. The aid is granted for the whole degree at once in nine-month periods (from 1 September to 31 May). You must apply separately for the summer months (from 1 June to 31 August).
Notifying Kela about changes in financial aid, such as paying it back, cancelling it or discontinuing it, can be done on Kela’s website. By paying back or cancelling the financial aid beforehand, you can increase your income check’s annual income limit, or you can set aside months of financial aid available for higher education study for later use. The service shows the months available to choose and the amount of the aid.
Monitoring study progress and income consideration
Kela monitors the study progress of the previous academic year (from 1 August to 31 July) of the financial aid recipients every year. For students whose study credits from the previous academic year or the whole studying time are under the required amount (5 credits per month of aid or 20 credits per academic year), will be sent a request for information in the fall. Remember to always answer the request for information! If you don’t, the aid will be cancelled automatically from the beginning of the following year.
If you have fallen behind on your studies because of your health or other life situation, Kela can grant you an extension so you can get your studies back on track. You can find information about well-being and study ability from TREY’s website.
You may have to pay back financial aid if you complete no study credits during the academic year or the circumstances show that there was never an intention to study full-time.
If you have graduated with e.g. a Bachelor’s degree during the previous year, monitoring the progress will only examine the credits done after graduating. In this case, you might receive a request for information, even though you have the required amount of study credits. Don’t be alarmed and answer the request normally. You can always ask help from TREY’s Specialists in Social Affairs.
Your income is taken into consideration when granting financial aid. You can check the income limit from Kela’s website. The income can be received at any time during the calendar year. All taxable earnings and capital income, grants meant for subsistence (except for student exchange abroad) and income from abroad are considered as income.
The income check of the annual income is done subsequently, so the student must make sure that the income doesn’t exceed the annual limit income. You can avoid the recovery of the aid by cancelling months of aid that you have already applied for or by paying back the excess by April of the following year. Voluntary repayment also restores the months of aid in question for reuse.
Housing benefits
Students are entitled to general housing allowance to help with their housing costs. You can apply online from Kela’s eServices. The general housing allowance is not dependent on studying or study credits. The amount of the housing allowance is 80 per cent of the acceptable housing costs. If more than one people live in the residence, they might comprise a household, and the housing allowance is granted to the household as a whole. Housing allowance is usually granted for one year in advance. If income or other circumstances change during the year, the housing allowance is reviewed. If your income is not fixed, the average income is considered when making the decision. You can find more information on general housing allowance from Kela’s website.
Sickness allowance
A student with a long-term illness is entitled to sickness allowance instead of financial aid. Don’t waste your financial aid months for students while you are sick! A doctor’s certificate is attached to the application, so go to the doctor on time. The subsistence security during rehabilitation is the rehabilitation allowance. From 1.1.2015 onward, a student who is granted sickness allowance has been able to study small amounts. More information on sickness allowance can be found on Kela’s website.
Parental allowances
A student with a family is entitled to maternity grant, maternity or paternity allowance, parental allowance, child home care allowance and child benefits. In addition, a guardian with a child under 18 can get a provider supplement in their possible study grant. The amount of the maternity, paternity or parental allowance is determined in general based on the earned income stated in the taxation verified the year preceding the granting of the allowance. You can also study with the allowance but if the recipient of the maternity, paternity or parental allowance also receives a study grant, the allowance is paid in minimum. More information on parental allowances can be found on Kela’s website.
Students and social assistance
Social assistance is a statutory, last-resort form of subsistence security. The student’s primary subsistence method is financial aid for students (study grant and study loan), but the student’s necessary expenses can also in many situations be greater than the disposable income. In this case, the student is entitled to social assistance on the same grounds as everyone else in need. You can apply for assistance from Kela. More information on social assisatance can be found on Kela’s website.
The student’s income during the summer months
You can also apply for financial aid for the summer months. If you can’t find a summer job or can’t study during the summer, you can also apply for social assistance for the summer. However, Kela requires that all the year’s study loans have been disbursed before it grants social allowance for the summer months. TREY organises an info event about summer subsistence in late spring. You can also always contact the student union with questions about subsistence.
Help for paying off debt
You can get financial and debt counselling from Pirkanmaan oikeusaputoimisto (legal aid office).
More information
You can contact the Specialists in Social Affairs with all questions, uncertainties and problematic situations concerning income.
Useful links
General information
Quick guide to financial aid for students on Kela’s website
Kysy Kelasta discussion forum for international situations
Financial aid and how to apply
Information about financial aid on Kela’s website
How to apply for financial aid for students, information on Kela’s website
The effects of other income on Kela’s website
General housing allowance for students
How to apply for the general housing allowance, information on Kela’s website
Student loan
How to apply for a student loan, information on Kela’s webpage
Making satisfactory progress with studies
Study progress, information on Kela’s website
Study progress in higher education, information on Kela’s website
Changes in personal circumstances
Running out of eligibility months, information on Kela’s website
If you fall ill and cannot study, information on Kela’s website
Provider supplement to the study grant, information on Kela’s website
Report changes on Kela’s website