Education entry grant

Information in English and other languages

We provide information about our various forms of grants and loans in different languages. Quite a lot of information has been translated into English. The most important information has been translated into other languages, such as Arabic, Spanish, etc.

What is an education entry grant?

An education entry grant is a grant that some unemployed people may be able to receive for a limited period of time in order to study at compulsory or upper secondary level. In the first instance, your home municipality will assess who belongs to the target group for education entry grants. It is also here that you submit your application.

Amount

The education entry grant is usually paid for four weeks at a time. The amount of money you receive depends on your rate of study (full-time or part-time), how many weeks you will be studying and what income you receive.

If you have children

If you have custody of children, you can receive additional grants. This is known as extra child allowance. The amount you can receive depends on how many children you have.

Requirements and conditions

Below are some of the requirements you need to satisfy in order to be entitled to an education entry grant:

• You are between 25–60 years of age (you are entitled to an education entry grant from the year you turn 25 until the year you turn 60).
• You are registered at the Swedish Public Employment Service.
• Over the past 12 months, you have been unemployed for a total of at least six months. If you have been enrolled in a labour market policy scheme or participated in introductory initiatives, this also counts as unemployment.
• You have previously only attended education for a short time and are in great need of compulsory or upper secondary education in order to find work. This is assessed by your home municipality.
• You have not received student aid in the past three years.
• Your studies are at least 50 per cent of full-time and will last for at least three weeks.
• You may not receive certain other benefits at the same time as receiving an education entry grant, such as activity support, sickness benefit and introduction benefit.

Do you already have a student loan from before? If so, you are not permitted to fall behind with your payments. Contact CSN if you have any questions about this.

Additional terms and conditions 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. If you have a permanent residence permit and live in Sweden, you will usually be entitled to Swedish student finance.

If you have received a temporary residence permit from the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) because you have refugee status or similar, you are also usually entitled to Swedish student finance.

In addition, different rules apply depending on whether you are a citizen of a country within or outside the EU/EEA or Switzerland.

Study in Sweden as a foreign citizen

Education programmes that entitle you to an education entry grant

These education programmes entitle you to an education entry grant:

• Programmes at compulsory and upper secondary level within Komvux (not including SFI, commissioned education or education combined with trainee work).
• General courses at compulsory and upper secondary level at a folk high school.

Length of time can you receive an education entry grant

If you are studying full-time, you can receive an education entry grant for a maximum of 50 weeks. If you are studying part-time, CSN will recalculate the number of weeks accordingly.

If you want to continue studying after the weeks for which you are entitled to an education entry grant, you can apply to CSN for regular student aid.

Application, study assurance and payment

Before you apply, meet a guidance practitioner or some other person working with education entry grants in your home municipality. Together, draw up a plan for your studies and talk about which grants and loans may be relevant for you. If you agree that an education entry grant would be right for you, you submit an application.

Don’t know who to contact? Talk to your case officer at the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) or the municipality, who will be able to help you.

Apply to your home municipality

You should apply for an education entry grant from the municipality where you live. The municipality will then forward your application to CSN. It is not possible to apply directly to CSN. You can apply for education entry grants multiple times, provided you have weeks left.

Submit your study assurance and register for your courses

When you receive your decision from CSN, make sure everything is correct. If anything is wrong, contact CSN. When you start your studies, you must submit a study assurance to CSN in which you certify that you are going to be studying as stated in the decision. You can normally submit your study assurance in Mina sidor (My Pages) or in CSN’s app. It is important not to wait too long before submitting your study assurance.

You must also remember to register on the courses you are studying. You can do this at your school.

Register account for payments

In order to have the money deposited into your bank account, you must register your account details with Swedbank’s account register. You do not need to be a Swedbank customer, rather your account can be held by any Swedish bank.

Register account with Swedbank’s account register

When will the money arrive?

You will receive the first payment for the semester at the time when you start studying. You will then receive the payment on the 25th of the month, in advance for each month you are studying. If this is a weekend or a public holiday, you will receive the funds on the last weekday before this date.

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, you also have to notify CSN in the event e.g. 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. We will check the information you have provided to CSN with the school’s data.

If you or your child becomes ill

It is also important to submit notification if you become ill or if you need to be at home to care for a sick child. You can then retain your education entry grant and also reduce the requirement regarding credits. Report illness to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) and care of a child to CSN.

Report illness to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan)

Contact CSN if your child becomes ill

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.

Read more about demands

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