Student grants and loans for studies outside Sweden

You may be entitled to student grants and loans when studying abroad. You can apply for student grants and loans for courses at post-secondary level. You can also apply for student finance for education at upper secondary level (e.g. language courses), but only from the autumn semester in the year in which you turn 20.


You can choose to apply for the grant portion only. You must pay back the loan. In 2024, the interest rate on the loan is 1,23 per cent.

It is normally the case that only Swedish citizens can receive student finance in order to study outside Sweden. However, if you can be equated with a Swedish citizen under EU law, you may be entitled to Swedish student finance for studies outside Sweden.

Size of grants and loans you can receive

The size of the grants and student loans you can receive depends e.g. on

  • your rate of study (full-time or part-time)
  • the number of weeks you are studying for
  • the size of your income.

As the cost of living and accommodation may be higher abroad, you can apply for an extra loan known as an additional loan for studies abroad.

Grants and student loans, 2024 (examples for different numbers of weeks)

1 week, SEK4 weeks, SEK20 weeks, SEK
Grant9973 98819 940
Student loan2 2929 16845 840
Additional loan for studies abroad7162 86414 320
Total4 00516 02080 100


Other grants and loans that you can apply for

When studying abroad, there are often additional costs, such as for travel, insurance and tuition fees. You can apply for an additional loan for these costs. If you have custody of children under the age of 18, you can also apply for extra child allowance.

If you are studying within the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you can also apply for supplementary loans in some cases. You may be entitled to this loan from the year you turn 25 and if you have worked in the past and had a certain minimum income.

Student finance amount for studies abroad in 2024


Student finance with basic grants, for full - time

Full-time

1 week

4 weeks

13 weeks

17 weeks

Grant

SEK 997

SEK 3,988

SEK 12,961

SEK 16,949

Loan

SEK 2,292

SEK 9,168

SEK 29,796

SEK 38,964

Additional loan

SEK 716

SEK 2,864

SEK 9,308

SEK 12,172

Total

SEK 4,005

SEK 16,020

SEK 52,065

SEK 68,085


Student finance with basic grants, for part - time

Part-time 50%

1 week

4 weeks

13 weeks

17 weeks

Grant

SEK 492

SEK 1,968

SEK 6,396

SEK 8,364

Loan

SEK 1,152

SEK 4,608

SEK 14,976

SEK 19,584

Additional loan

SEK 343

SEK 1,372

SEK 4,459

SEK 5,831

Total

SEK 1,987

SEK 7,948

SEK 25,831

SEK 33,779


Income limit per six-month-period

Number of weeks

Full-time

Part-time 50%

5

SEK 194,281

SEK 208,096

10

SEK 166,519

SEK 194,229

15

SEK 138,757

SEK 180,363

20

SEK 110,995

SEK 166,496

26

SEK 77,681

SEK 149,856


Additional loan for tuition fees, per week


Full-time

Part-time 50%

Upper secondary level

SEK 1,833

SEK 916

Post upper secondary level*

SEK 3,667

SEK 1,833

*The maximum amount for the entire study period is SEK 440 064. The maximum amounts are affected if you are older than 50.

Additional loan for insurance, weekly maximum amount



EU/EES

SEK 229

The United States

SEK 464

Rest of the world

SEK 309


Additional loan for inbound and outbound flights



EU/EES and United Kingdom

SEK 5,730

Rest of the world

SEK 17,190

If you need to borrow for tuition fees

If you are studying at a school that charges a mandatory tuition fee, you can apply for an additional loan for tuition fees. According to CSN, a mandatory fee includes costs for enrolment, courses, examinations and access to libraries and computers.

The amount you can borrow for this fee depends e.g. on whether you are studying at upper secondary or post-secondary level. You cannot borrow more than the value of the actual tuition fees.

CSN calculates how much you can borrow based on how many weeks your study period lasts. There is a maximum amount you can borrow per week and a maximum amount you can borrow during your total study period.

The maximum amount you can borrow per week varies depending on the level you are studying at and whether you are studying full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time, the weekly amount will be less.

For full-time studies at

  • upper secondary level, the most you can borrow per week for tuition fees is SEK 1 833.
  • post-secondary level, the most you can borrow per week for tuition fees is SEK 3 667.

This means that if you are studying at university for 20 weeks, the maximum amount you can borrow is SEK 73 340 for that period.

The maximum amount you can borrow for tuition fees for the entire study period is also dependent on the level at which you are studying. The maximum amount is calculated based on the number of weeks for which you are entitled to receive student aid and the “price base amount”. If you are going to be studying for longer and want to have loans throughout this period, you may need to spread when you take out the additional loan. Once you have borrowed the maximum amount for tuition fees, you will not be able to borrow any more for such fees.

Maximum amount for loans for tuition fees in SEK, 2024



Post-secondary level, 240 weeks

440,064

Upper secondary level, 80 weeks*

146,688

* If you have not completed three-year upper secondary education and are entitled to 120 weeks of student aid at upper secondary level, your maximum amount is SEK 220, 032 instead.

In Mina sidor (My Pages) you can see your maximum amount, how much you have used and how much you have left.

We can pay out the loan monthly in advance or by semester, in which case at the earliest three weeks before the start of the course. At most schools, the fees can be divided up into several payments. Contact the school to find out if you can divide up the fees.

If your income exceeds the income limit

You may receive income up to a certain amount without your student grants and loans being affected. The income limit is calculated per calendar half-year, January-June or July-December. If your income exceeds the income limit, you are not entitled to the same level of grants and loans.

See amounts and income limits (in Swedish)

Requirements and conditions

Various requirements and conditions must be satisfied in order for you to be entitled to student grants and loans.

  • The education you will be attending must grant the entitlement to student finance.
  • It must be possible to take examinations for the courses or the education must lead to a degree.
  • You must be admitted to your course without reservations or conditions.
  • You must have been resident in Sweden for at least two consecutive years in the last five years. There are certain exceptions to this rule, however.
  • For studies outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, you have to be studying full-time for at least 13 weeks. When studying within the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you have to be studying for at least 3 weeks.
  • You must be below the age of 60. The entitlement to borrow decreases from the year you turn 51.
  • You may not receive certain other benefits at the same time as receiving student grants and loans, such as activity support, sickness benefit and introduction benefit.
  • You can only receive student grants and loans for a limited amount of time. The length of time depends on the education level for which you are studying:
    • University college, university or some other post-secondary education: a maximum of 240 weeks
    • Upper secondary level: a maximum of 80 or 120 weeks, depending on your previous education
  • If you have previously studied with student grants and loans or an education entry grant, you must have satisfied the requirements as regards credits in order to receive new student grants and loans. The requirements regarding credits vary depending on which course you are studying.
  • If you have unpaid annual fees or demands for more than one period, you may not receive student grants and loan. Contact CSN for more information.

How does Brexit affect my student finance?

The right to Swedish student finance for foreign citizens

If you are a foreign citizen, you also need to satisfy the conditions in order to be entitled to Swedish student finance.

Read more about the conditions for foreign citizens

Application, study assurance and payment

This is what you will need to do:

  1. Prepare your application. Find out whether the course grants the entitlement to student aid, ascertain which appendices you need to enclose and check with the school how any tuition fees are to be paid.
  2. Submit an application in Mina sidor (My Pages). Log in with e-ID, which is the fastest method.
  3. When you receive your decision from CSN, make sure everything is correct. If anything is wrong, contact CSN.
  4. If you have not previously received student finance or if more than a year has passed since you last received such finance, you should register your bank account details with Swedbank’s account register. We can then can pay the money out directly to your account. Your account can be in any Swedish bank. We cannot normally pay out the funds to a foreign account.
  5. Submit a study assurance to CSN in which you certify that you are going to be studying as stated in the decision. You can do this at the earliest four weeks before the start of the semester. You can normally submit your study assurance in Mina sidor or in CSN’s app.

You can receive payment of an additional loan for travel, insurance and tuition fees at the earliest three weeks before the start of the semester. CSN will normally only pay out other grants and loans at the start of the semester. You will then receive the payment on around the 25th of the month, in advance for each month you are studying. You can see your payments in Mina sidor.

Provide notification if you become ill or if anything changes

If anything happens or changes during your period of study, it is important for you to provide notification of the change so that you receive the right amount. Changes might include you e.g.

  • interrupting your studies
  • studying for fewer credits than you had planned
  • selling a property and receiving income above the free amount.

If you are a foreign citizen, it is also important for you to notify CSN in the event of any changes to your residence permit, or in the event you or a person you are related to should stop working or have a reduction in working hours.

You can submit a change notification in Mina sidor (My Pages) or contact us in some other way. If you fail to report changes and this results in you being paid more than you are entitled to, you will have to pay the additional funds back.

If you or your child becomes ill

It is also important to notify CSN if you become ill or if you need to be at home to care for a sick child. In this situation, you may keep your student grants and loans without these weeks being counted as having been used, and requirement regarding awarded credits is also reduced. You can report an illness to CSN by submitting the form “Notification of illness during studies abroad” (no. 5521W).

Repaying the student loan

When it is time to start making loan repayments, you will receive a payment plan from CSN. If this is the first time you have taken out a student loan, you will start repaying the loan at the earliest six months after receiving the student aid. If you have studied before and start studying again, you will not receive any such grace period.

The amount you have to pay each year depends e.g. on

  • how much you have borrowed
  • the length of time you are going to be repaying your loan
  • the interest rate.

You can take a maximum of 25 years to repay your loan, and it must be fully repaid by the time you turn 64. You will usually pay a little less at the beginning and more at the end. Of course, you can repay the loan faster if you want.

If you are experiencing difficulty with your repayments, for example because your income decreases, you can apply to pay back less for a certain period of time. CSN will then assess your application and determine whether you are entitled to pay less.

Remember to make sure that CSN always has your correct address details. This is a requirement.

Repaying the student loan

If you have received a demand

If you have received money from CSN that you were not entitled to, you have to pay it back. In this case, you will receive a demand.

If you have received a demand

Appealing against a decision by CSN

If you believe that CSN has reached an incorrect decision, you can appeal against it. CSN must be in receipt of your appeal within three weeks from the date on which you were notified the decision.

How to appeal against a decision

Updated: 2024-01-23