Financial aid will be discontinued for some students due to insufficient study progress

Kela monitors students’ study progress annually. Through the monitoring, Kela checks whether the eligibility criteria for financial aid are met, i.e., whether students have earned enough credits during the academic year.

Approximately 15,200 higher education students and approximately 6,000 students in secondary education failed to make sufficient progress in their studies in the previous academic year and thus received a request for further information from Kela in September or October. In the academic year 2024-2025, approximately 283,000 students received financial aid.

The financial aid will have to be discontinued for approximately 4,700 students. Of these students, approximately 3,700 are in higher education and approximately 1,000 are in secondary education. The financial aid is thus discontinued for only 1.7% of the students whose study progress was monitored this autumn.

“We only have to discontinue the financial aid for a small percentage of the students. Most students make great progress in their studies. Indeed, discontinuing the financial aid is our last means of reminding students that they must make progress in their studies,” says Linda Reinikainen, Legal Counsel in Kela’s Student Financial Aid Group.

Student financial aid will be discontinued for students who have not earned enough credits and who have not given an acceptable reason for making slower progress. Acceptable reasons include, for instance, illness or some other difficult life situation. Not all students who were sent a request for further information have replied to the request. According to Reinikainen, students who have received a request for further information can in such situations also provide the information afterwards. Kela will then determine whether the decision can be changed based on this.

Most of the students affected by the decision to discontinue financial aid will have their payments stopped as from January 2026. The date when the payments will stop is mentioned in the decision.

The housing supplement is also discontinued at the same time

If the financial aid is discontinued due to insufficient study progress, the housing supplement for students will also be discontinued. For this reason, it is important that students always remember to reply to the request for further information. If the financial aid is discontinued, the decision on this includes information on the benefits that the student can apply for instead of the financial aid and the housing supplement.

“The student can again apply for financial aid when they have made sufficient progress in their studies,” says Reinikainen.

How to maintain eligibility for financial aid

If a student has an acceptable reason for making slower progress with their studies, the best way to maintain eligibility for financial aid and housing supplement is to reply to the request for further information from Kela. Reinikainen also points out that higher education students can reduce the number of months of financial aid taken into account in the monitoring of study progress by cancelling or paying back financial aid.

“Students may have a lot going on in their lives, and the studies do not always progress as planned. But we do encourage students to take a few moments a couple of times per academic year to check their Kela matters. If anything is unclear, they can always contact Kela,” Reinikainen points out.

Additional information for customers

• Study progress in upper secondary school and vocational education
• Study progress in higher education
• Press release 3 October 2025: Kela asks approximately 21,000 students to explain lack of progress in their studies – some may lose their financial aid and housing supplement