Kela suspends financial aid to 2,500 higher education students

The Finnish Social Security institution (Kela) has decided to suspend the student financial aid for an estimated 2,500 higher education students. The reason, as Kela explained Wednesday in a press release, is that "the student has not earned enough credits." 

Kela assesses the academic progress of higher education students on a yearly basis. This autumn, the assessment was carried out for around 118,000 higher education students who received financial aid in academic year 2019-2020.

According to Kela, a request for further information was sent to 7,600 students.

For about 1,200 students, the financial aid payments were stopped because they did not even reply to the request for further information. Students whose aid has been discontinued because they forgot to respond still have the opportunity to request a review of the cancellation decision.

These students are sent a decision letter explaining what they can do to re-qualify for financial aid. The letter also describes what other types of assistance may be available.

5,600 sudents replied

This autumn, the number of requests for further information sent by Kela was lower than in previous years because the requirement regarding the minimum number of credits earned in connection with the monitoring of academic progress was more lenient due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Altogether 5,600 students replied to the request. 95% of the replies were sent via Kela’s e-service. "For most students, the reply was accepted and the payment of financial aid continues," the agency said.