Approximately 35,000 students exceeded their income limit for student financial aid in 2024 – overpaid student financial aid can be paid back voluntarily before the end of April

Kela estimates that approximately 35,000 students exceeded their income limit for student financial aid in 2024. These students can voluntarily pay back student financial aid they received in 2024 by Wednesday, 30 April 2025 at the latest. Students enrolled in higher education who voluntarily pay back student financial aid will gain back the months of financial aid they have voluntarily repaid and use them again at a later date.

“Last year, over 22,000 students returned a total of EUR 17.7 million voluntarily. We estimate that the amount of repayments will remain the same this year as the same income limits applied as in 2023,” says Ilpo Lahtinen, Senior Coordinator in Kela's Student Financial Aid Section.

Students whose income exceeds the annual limit and who do not return excess aid by the end of April 2025 at the latest will be required to pay back the aid to Kela in February 2026. At that point, an increase of 7.5% will be added to the amount that Kela will recover from these students, and the students will not be able to reuse the recovered months of financial aid.

Students can check their annual income limit in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) or by visiting Kela’s website.

Student financial aid can be paid back quickly and easily

The Tax Administration provides Kela with the income data recorded in students’ pre-completed tax returns. If the preliminary tax information indicates that the student has exceeded the annual income limit, Kela will notify the student of this via text message or email at the beginning of April. Kela sends notifications to all students who have received student financial aid and given Kela permission to send them messages. Permission to send messages can be given in OmaKela.

Kela compiles a summary of the preliminary tax information for each student. This summary is available in OmaKela. Students can check the summary to see how much income they received in 2024 and pay back excess student financial aid directly.

OmaKela will tell each student which months of financial aid they can return and how much their annual income limit will increase if they voluntarily return aid for those months. Repayment can be made online immediately or by the end of April at the latest.

This is the last year students have to pay back only their study grant

The annual income limit and the voluntary repayment provision do not apply to the general housing allowance. However, students will be transferred to a new housing supplement scheme for students on 1 August 2025. This means that when a student pays back student financial aid in the future, they will also have to pay back their housing supplement.

“Students will have to be particularly careful next year when checking their income and annual income limit,” says Lahtinen.