Study abroad in Asia with CSN funding

Generally, all students are entitled to CSN student grants and loans when studying abroad. You can apply for student grants and loans for courses from the post-secondary level onwards and, in exceptional cases already, for education at the upper secondary level (e.g., language courses), but only from the autumn semester in the year in which you turn 20 years old.

When you study abroad at college & university, you get CSN loans and grants that cover your living expenses, just like at home in Sweden. However, you can choose to apply for a grant portion only.

Various requirements and conditions must be fulfilled to be entitled to student grants and loans from CSN.

• 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.
• For studies outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, you must study full-time for at least 13 weeks. You must study for at least three weeks when studying within the EU/EEA or Switzerland.
• You may not receive certain other benefits simultaneously as student grants and loans, such as activity support, sickness benefit, and introduction benefit.
• You can only receive student grants and loans for a limited time. The length of time depends on the education level for which you are studying:
• If you have previously studied with student grants and loans or an education entry grant, you must have satisfied the requirements as regards credits to receive new student grants and loans. The requirements regarding credits vary depending on which course you are studying. This means that you have to pass your courses.
• You may not receive student grants and loans if you have unpaid annual fees or demands for more than one period.

In addition to the tuition fee grant, you can borrow money from CSN to cover expenses for travel to and from your place of study abroad. When it comes to insurance, it is possible to take out a loan through CSN to cover the costs of your insurance when you study abroad.

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.

Even though the cost of living and accommodation is more affordable abroad, you can apply for an extra loan known as an additional loan for studies abroad.

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

First, you must 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.

Then you must apply in Mina sidor (My Pages). Log in with e-ID, which is the fastest method.

You should register your bank account details with Swedbank’s account register. CSN can then pay out the grants directly to your account. Your account can be in any Swedish bank. CSN cannot pay out the funds to a foreign account.

Part of the application process is to submit a study assurance to CSN in which you certify that you will 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 CSN’s app. Asia Exchange will help you with the documents you need.

Please note that you can receive payments of additional loans 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 beginning of the semester. You can see your payments in Mina sidor.

In case of any changes, it is always recommended to notify CSN through the Mina sidor application.

When you start making loan repayments, you will receive a payment plan from CSN.

The amount you have to pay each year depends, e.g., on how much you have borrowed, the length of time you will be repaying your loan, and the interest rate.

You can take a maximum of 25 years to repay your loan, which must be fully repaid by turning 64. You 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 having trouble with your repayments, for example, because your income decreases, you can apply to pay back less for a certain period. 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.

More information is available at: https://www.csn.se/

*Please note that some programs may not be eligible for study funds. Asia Exchange neither promises nor guarantees that you will receive CSN funding for any study program offered. Which abroad programs and courses are eligible for study funding depends entirely on CSN and may change at any time. Please visit the website of CSN for the most up-to-date information.