Apply for a student loan online

How to apply for student loan

When you are Nordea's customer

1. Apply for a state guarantee for your student loan from Kela. Read the instructions from Kela's pagesOpens new window.
2. Apply for a student loanOpens new window in Nordea net- or mobilebank.
3. Sign with your Nordea ID app.

When you are not yet Nordea's customer

1. Apply for a state guarantee for your student loan from Kela. Read the instructions from Kela's pagesOpens new window.
2. Become Nordea's customer and activate your Nordea ID app.
3. Apply for a student loanOpens new window in Nordea net- or mobilebank.
4. Sign with your Nordea ID app.

Information about applying for a student loan

• The loan guarantee decision will be forwarded to us directly by Kela, so you don’t need to send it to us separately.
• Remember that you have to reapply for a student loan each academic year. If you already have a student loan and want to renew it for a new academic year, you should apply for a raise to your old loan. Submit your application by filling in Nordea’s student loan application.
• Your application will be processed in 1 to 3 weekdays. You need to sign the loan agreement with your Nordea ID app when you submit the application. Once the loan is granted to you, the loan agreement and terms and conditions will be available in Netbank. 
  
• If you are a minor, you need your guardians’ (both guardians if you have two) consent for applying for a student loan. Your guardians can give their consent digitally through Omaposti, over the phone with their access codes or in branch with a power of attorney. After this, you can apply for and draw down a student loan through Nordea Customer Service if you have Nordea’s access codes. Alternatively, you can visit one of our branches.

State guarantee for a student loan

• A state guarantee is a security instrument granted for a loan by the state. If you are granted a state guarantee, you won’t need any other collateral for the loan. The state guarantee is valid for 30 years at the most from the first drawdown of the loan.
• You will receive a state guarantee decision for your student loan automatically from Kela in the case of a study grant or from the Employment Fund in the case of an adult education allowance. Fill in Kela's application with care and attach all necessary documents. When Kela has approved your application the bank will be notified.
• Even if you’re not entitled to a study grant, you can still obtain a loan guarantee in certain special cases. See if you are eligible for a student loan on Kela’s websiteOpens new window.

Student loan payment and drawdown dates

• In the autumn term, the payment and drawdown date is on 1 August at the earliest.
• In the spring term, the payment and drawdown date is on 2 January at the earliest.

The instalments for the academic year must be drawn down on 31 July at the latest.

Please note that if the first payment and drawdown date fall on a weekend or a mid-week holiday, the loan can be transferred to your account on the next banking day.

Student loan drawdown agreement

• You can make a drawdown agreement with the bank, which means that the student loan instalments will be transferred automatically. 
• If you make a drawdown agreement, the bank will transfer the student loan amount to your account automatically on the first possible drawdown date in accordance with Kela’s guarantee decision. The loan will be transferred to your account on the payment dates mentioned in the guarantee decision.
• No other costs will be charged besides an arrangement fee or a raising fee (10,00 €).

Partial student loan drawdown agreement

• If you choose to draw down your student loan in accordance with a partial drawdown agreement, the loan will not be transferred to your account automatically on the first possible drawdown date. Instead, you need to request for the drawdown separately with the student loan application.
  
• You can make a partial drawdown of your student loan when you have outstanding loan balance and wish to have a part of your loan amount transferred to your account.
• In addition to an arrangement fee or a raising fee (10,00 €), you will be charged a partial drawdown fee (10,00 €) for the second and subsequent partial drawdowns.

Student loan and studying abroad

• Student loan is a convenient way to fund your studies abroad.
• Students living abroad can apply for a student loan raise to cover their expenses. The raised student loan amount for persons living abroad who are entitled to Finnish social security is 800 euros a month.
• If you complete your degree abroad, you can draw down your student loan for the entire academic year in one go. 

Read more about financial aid for studying abroad from Kela's pagesOpens new window. 

Student loan compensation

Student loan compensation means that Kela can pay back a part of your student loan, if certain criteria are met.

You are eligible for the student loan compensation if:

• you have started your first course of study at a university on or after 1 August 2014
• you complete your degree within the target time and
• you have an outstanding state-guaranteed student loan totalling more than 2,500 euros.

Read more about student loan compensation.

Interest rate on a student loan

• During your studies, you will not pay any interest. Instead, interest will be capitalised, or in other words added to the loan principal, twice a year: on 15 June and 15 December.
  
• Interest is added to your student loan during the terms you receive student financial aid and once more after the last such term.
• If your income is low, you can apply for interest assistance from Kela once you have graduated. Read more about interest assistance on Kela's pagesOpens new window.

Repayment of your student loan

The repayment of your student loan will begin 1.5–2 years after your graduation. The repayment schedule is tailored to your needs, taking into account your repayment ability.

Read more about the repayment of student loans.

Apply for a change to your student loan

You can apply for an instalment-free period for your student loan or change the amount and due date of your repayment, the management account, the repayment method and the reference rate. Go to the applicationOpens new window. Any changes are subject to a fee in accordance with our tariff and it will be charged in connection with the next repayment of the loan.

Indicative Annual Percentage Rate

The indicative Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of a student loan is 4.90% when the loan amount is 4,500€, the loan period is 15 years and the margin is 0.50%. The estimated total cost of the loan is 6,762.64€ and the number of loan payments is 180. The calculation includes a fee for the automatic debiting of loan payments, which is 2.50€ per payment, and an arrangement fee of 10.00€. The calculation assumes that the loan will be drawn down over five years and the loan interest, payments and fees will remain unchanged throughout the loan period. The reference rate of the example calculation is the 12-month Euribor, which was quoted at 3.311% (on 18 January 2023).