ÅAS has Submitted a Statement on the Comprehensive Reform of Student Financial Aid

The Student Union of Åbo Akademi University (ÅAS) has submitted a statement to the Ministry of Education and Culture regarding the Government’s proposal for a new Act on Student Benefits. The proposal is part of the ongoing comprehensive reform of the student financial aid system, whose stated objective in the Government Programme is to enable full-time study.

ÅAS supports the statement submitted by the National Union of University Students in Finland (FSF) but has also highlighted several additional points based on our own policy and on issues we have observed affecting students in their everyday lives.

Although the reform is described as comprehensive, we believe that the proposed legislation does not fulfil its fundamental purpose. In its current form, the proposal is far from sufficient to achieve the Government’s goal of safeguarding the conditions necessary for full-time studies.

In its statement, ÅAS particularly emphasises that students’ economic and social circumstances have deteriorated during the preparation of the reform, making its already unrealistic objective even less likely to be achieved. A clear example of this is the transition from the general housing allowance back to the housing supplement within the student financial aid system, which has significantly weakened students’ financial security.

ÅAS stresses that student financial aid must correspond to students’ actual living and housing costs. According to the Student Union, insufficient financial aid results in an increasing number of students becoming dependent on paid employment or student loans to support themselves, which in turn may delay the completion of their studies. ÅAS also believes that no student should be forced to incur debt in order to study full-time.

ÅAS further notes that the transition to the housing supplement has led to more students needing to use student aid months during the summer in order to cover their housing expenses. This risks reducing the number of aid months available for completing their degree.

In addition to issues related to financial support, we also highlight the need to better consider students who are affected by illness, rehabilitation, or other challenging life situations. According to the Student Union, stricter requirements regarding academic progress must not result in these students risking the loss of their financial aid.

As a long-term solution, ÅAS advocates for the development of the social security system towards an individual and straightforward base-income model. Such a system would allow for a more flexible combination of studies, work, and entrepreneurship without requiring students to take out loans to cover their basic living expenses. In our view, the proposed reform, as it looks like currently, is not sufficient to ensure that higher education students can pursue their studies full-time.

ÅAS will continue to monitor the reform process and work towards a student financial aid system that strengthens students’ financial security, well-being, and opportunities to complete their studies on a full-time basis.

Read the full statement here. (Only in Swedish)