Because of changes in student housing assistance, Kela received an unusually large number of applications for student housing benefits over the summer. This backlog has now been cleared, and students will get their benefits within the usual target time.

The processing times of applications for student financial aid and the housing supplement for students were longer than usual this summer. Due to the delays in processing, financial aid or housing supplement payments to some students were delayed for August and September.

The backlog has now been cleared, and all students will get decisions on their applications within the usual target time.

Kela apologises for the delay. Marianne Schauman-Lindberg, head of Kela’s Centre for Student Benefits, commends students for having dealt well with the changes in housing assistance and for doing all the right things when applying for benefits.

“We want to thank students for their patience under these exceptional circumstances”, she says

Kela has set itself a target time of 14 days for processing applications for financial aid. Applications from higher education students will now be processed within this target time. Applications filed by upper secondary level students have been processed within the target time since August.

Students can keep track of the progress of their application in the OmaKela e-service. Decisions issued on applications for financial aid or housing supplement can also be viewed in OmaKela.