Find out if you may get student financing from your home country before coming to Norway to study. Generally speaking, you can export financial aid for education from your nation to another Nordic nation. You can check to see whether you qualify for financial assistance from Norway if you are not eligible for assistance from your own country.
You may be eligible for help for upper secondary education (gymnas), further education, and other forms of education, such as folk high schools (folkehgskole), if you meet the conditions for student finance from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lanekassen).
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Lanekassen offers student loans to the majority of Norwegian students. They require them to pay for housing, food, and educational expenses. The loans offered by Lanekassen are somewhat different from those offered by banks. We provide loans that are superior to other loans in a number of ways.
The following are the characteristics of the student loans with Lanekassen: a part of the loan can be converted to a grant later, an interest-free loan to full-time students, a loan which contains debt insurance that protects you in the case of your incapacity or demise, as well as a number of related social assistance programs.
Eligibility
You must be a Norwegian citizen and be enrolled in an educational program or course that has been authorized in order to qualify for financial aid from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lanekassen). However, students with citizenship from other countries may also get financial aid.
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This depends on your relationship with Norway and the reason behind your visit. For instance, if you meet the requirements for working and paying taxes in Norway, or if you are in the nation due to a marriage or other family-related tie, you may be eligible for financial help for school.
Study scholarships and loans are available. Financial support for higher education and other types of education differs from financing for upper secondary education (gymnas). The fundamental kind of aid for higher education is a loan. Upon completion of the educational program or receipt of a degree, up to 40% of the sum may be converted to a grant. The amount of the loan that is converted to a grant is based on your income and assets.
In Norway, there is no tax on student loans. You are eligible to receive financial aid for up to a total of eight years, in addition to receiving education at the upper secondary level (gymnas). Even if your studies are postponed, you cannot get funding for more than eight years.
How to Apply
On your personal pages (called “Dina sider”) on the website of the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, you may electronically request financial assistance. You should be aware that before you apply, you must have legal residency in Norway, a Norwegian personal identity number, be accepted into a program or course of study, and have a Norwegian bank account.
The final application deadline for financial aid is 15 November for fall semester studies and 15 March for spring semester courses.
Supporting Documents: The following documents will be requested of you during the course of loan processing;
• a copy of the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration’s (UDI)
• letter of a decision confirming your refugee status
• a copy of your current residence permit
• a copy of the decision establishing the duration of your first support
• a copy of the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration’s (UDI) decision, which details the grounds for granting residency in Norway.
• copy of a current residence permit
• Other documents may differ if you are married to a Norwegian citizen if you have full-time employment or school there.
Loan Repayment
The Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund will send you a repayment schedule with details on how much and when you must pay back the loan about seven months after you have finished your education.
• Upon ceasing to be a student, you will be required to pay interest and installments: You must repay the portion of the loan that remains after it has been partially transformed into a grant. Your loan will accrue interest starting on the day you finish your studies and continuing until it is fully returned. Six times a year, Lanekassen changes its interest rates, which are essentially the same as those that are applicable to regular home loans.
• Social assistance programs that are applicable after debt repayment: Some of your loan balance or your interest may be forgiven if you become incapacitated, ill, or experience other circumstances that result in a reduced income. Additionally, everyone is permitted a total of 36 deferrals of bill payment or the equivalent of three years.
• Personal loans for education: Student loans are offered without the need for a home or other assets as security, unlike bank loans. A loan will be erased at the demise of the loan’s bearer.
• Debts after graduation vary: The amount of debt you will have after finishing your studies may vary depending on how long you studied, whether you studied in Norway or abroad, and if you took out a full loan. After holding a student loan for three years, if you have a basic loan—the sort of loan that most students have—and if 40% of it is converted into a grant, you may anticipate having a total debt of about NOK 240,000. Expect your debt to be larger if you took out a loan to pay for school, studied overseas, or didn’t fulfill the requirements for conversion.
• Monthly payments are required: You may see a rough estimate of how much of your student loan you must repay each month below.
• Most people repay their loans in 20 years or less: Most consumers are able to repay their debts within the standard 20-year payback period. The payback time will be shorter if your debt is minimal, and you may opt to pay it off sooner if you want to.
I hope that this article on Student Loans for International Students in Norway was helpful.