Student finance for transition and retraining – For people already established in the labour market
Student finance for transition and retraining is a new scheme for adults in the labour market who need to broaden their skills to improve their employability. You can now apply for student finance for transition and retraining for studies in Sweden beginning from 1 January to 30 June 2025.
Table of contents
- What is student finance for transition and retraining?
- Your transition organisation helps you on your way
- Who is eligible for student finance for transition and retraining?
- This is how long you can get student finance for transition and retraining
- Amounts for grants and loans
- If you are working part-time in addition to studying
- If you receive other types of grants during your studies
- Application rounds and budget
- Checklist for applying
- Formal opinion regarding how your studies will strengthen your position in the labour market
- Payment
- Required study results
- If anything changes, you become ill, or need to care for a sick child
- Repaying the loan
What is student finance for transition and retraining?
Student finance for transition and retraining is a new kind of student finance aimed at adults who have already entered the labour market. Student finance for transition and retraining allows you to study and broaden your skills to improve your employability, either by further developing your expertise within your chosen field, or by starting down a new path.
Student finance for transition and retraining consists of a grant of up 80 per cent of your salary, up to a maximum amount, and a loan that you can use to top up your income, if you are looking to do to. Student finance is available for 44 weeks or longer, should you choose to study part-time.
Student finance for transition and retraining is available for studies in Sweden that started on 1 January 2023 or later. However, under certain circumstances, you may receive student finance for courses and programmes that have begun before that.
Your transition organisation helps you on your way
Your transition organisation will provide you with help and support to develop your skills. For example, they can give you free study and career guidance. Most transition organisations can also help you certify that the training you are about to take will strengthen your position in the labour market. In some cases, they can also provide you with a supplementary study grant.
There are different transition organisations and before you apply for student finance for transition and retraining, it's a good idea to find out which one you belong to. You will be asked about this in the application.
If you know your employer's organisation number you can find out which transition organisation you belong to by using this service:
Who is eligible for student finance for transition and retraining?
In order to be eligible for student finance for transition and retraining, you must meet a number of requirements. Click the headings below for more information about each requirement.
This is how long you can get student finance for transition and retraining
The maximum length of student finance for transition and retraining is 44 weeks for full-time studies. This is equivalent to about one year of study.
If you are studying part-time, CSN will recalculate the weeks based on their equivalent in weeks of full-time studies. This means that if you are studying at 50%, for example, you can receive student finance for transition and retraining for 88 weeks.
If you want your weeks of student finance for transition and retraining to last longer, you can choose to take out less student finance for transition and retraining than your study load. For example, you can study at 75%, but take student finance for transition and retraining at 40%.
Amounts for grants and loans
Student finance for transition and retraining consists of a grant and a loan. You can choose to only take the grant and forgo the loan.
How much you receive through the grant and loan depends on your income. The money is paid monthly in arrears.
Grant – money you will receive
The grant corresponds to 80 per cent of your previous income, up to a maximum amount. For 2024, the maximum grant amount is SEK 5,275 per week before tax.
The grant is taxable and CSN will deduct preliminary tax before the money is sent. The grant is also pensionable.
Some transition organisations can offer an additional study grant depending on the contents of their collective agreement.
The table shows examples of how much you can get if you are a full-time student. Usually a standard payment is 4 weeks, but in some months it can be 5 weeks. The first and last disbursement of the period may be for fewer weeks.
Income per month, before tax | Grant for 1 week (before tax) | Grant for 4 weeks (before tax) |
---|---|---|
SEK 15,000 | SEK 2,769 | SEK 11,076 |
SEK 20,000 | SEK 3,692 | SEK 14,768 |
SEK 25,000 | SEK 4,615 | SEK 18,460 |
SEK 30,000 | SEK 5,275 | SEK 21,100 |
SEK 35,000 | SEK 5,275 | SEK 21,100 |
SEK 40,000 | SEK 5,275 | SEK 21,100 |
SEK 45,000 | SEK 5,275 | SEK 21,100 |
SEK 50,000 | SEK 5,275 | SEK 21,100 |
Loan – money that you need to pay back
In addition to the grant, you can also take out a student loan for transition and retraining, should you wish to do so. The loan amount is based on your income and is also subject to a maximum amount. For 2023, the maximum loan amount is SEK 12,556 per month.
The idea behind the loan is that you should be able to have approximately the same income after taxes during you studies as you do when you work. The income you get through student finance for transition and retraining can never exceed your salary amount.
We cannot say how much you will be able to borrow until we know the amount you are entitled to through grants. When calculating the amount you are entitled to, we include grants from both CSN and your transition organisation, provided that you are receiving grants from them.
Income per month (before tax) | Loan for 1 week (maximum amount) | Loan for 4 weeks (maximum amount) |
---|---|---|
SEK 15,000 | SEK 436 | SEK 1,744 |
SEK 20,000 | SEK 581 | SEK 2,324 |
SEK 25,000 | SEK 727 | SEK 2,908 |
SEK 30,000 | SEK 1,038 | SEK 4,152 |
SEK 35,000 | SEK 1,765 | SEK 7,060 |
SEK 40,000 | SEK 2,492 | SEK 9,968 |
SEK 45,000 | SEK 3,219 | SEK 12,876 |
SEK 50,000 | SEK 3,426 | SEK 13,704 |
If you are working part-time in addition to studying
You can work part-time while studying with student finance for transition and retraining. There is no limit to how much you can earn while you are receiving student finance for transition and retraining (known as an income limit). However, you may only receive student finance for transition and retraining for the time during which you do not work. This means that if you work at a rate of 50 per cent, you may only receive student finance for transition and retraining at a rate of 50 per cent, even if you are a full-time student (100 per cent).
Student finance for transition and retraining is available at 20, 40, 50, 60, 75 and 100 percent of full-time.
If you increase your working hours while you are receiving student finance for transition and retraining, it is important that you notify CSN so that you do not receive too much.
If you receive other types of grants during your studies
You may not receive other types of social grants while receiving student finance for transition and retraining.
This means that you are not eligible for student finance for transition and retraining while receiving, for example, full allowance from Försäkringskassan. However, if you are receiving a 50 per cent allowance from Försäkringskassan, you are eligible for student finance for transition and retraining at a rate of 50 per cent.
Below are some examples of grants you may not receive while also receiving student finance for transition and retraining:
- activity support
- sickness, activity and rehabilitation benefit
- parental allowance
- development benefit
- establishment benefit
- short-term benefit.
Application rounds and budget
There are two application rounds each year. The date when the period that you wish to receive student finance for starts, will determine when you can submit your application. You can apply for student finance for a period of one year in the same application.
The earliest dates for submitting your application are stated below:
- As of 1st April you can send in your application if you wish to receive student finance for a period that starts from 1 July to 31 December that same year.
- As of 1st October you can send in your application if you wish to receive student finance for a period that starts from 1 January to 30 June the following year.
We will reject your application if you submit it too early.
A limited budget
Every year, CSN receives an amount of money intended for student finance for transition and retraining from the Riksdag. It is divided into two budgetary items – one for civil servants and one for private employees. The budget is also divided between the two application periods.
We grant applications in the order in which we receive them, and as long as there is money available. If you are studying with student finance for transition and retraining, you have priority if you apply again for the same courses or programme.
Checklist for applying
There are a few steps you need to take in order to make the application process as frictionless as possible. Click the different steps to learn more.
1. Plan your studies
2. Prepare ahead of submitting your application for student finance for transition and retraining
3. Apply through Mina sidor (My Pages) on csn.se
4. Wait for CSN to make a decision regarding your application
5. Read through the decision
6. Submit a study assurance to CSN and ensure that your account is linked to Swedbank’s account register
Formal opinion regarding how your studies will strengthen your position in the labour market
In order to receive student finance for transition and retraining, you verify that your planned studies will strengthen your position in the labour market. The most efficient way to accomplish this is through a formal opinion from a transition organisation.
If your transition organisation can provide a formal opinon, CSN will request it from them directly when we process your application. This means that you do not need to submit it yourself.
Payment
Student finance for transition and retraining is paid on the 25th of each month of your study period. You will receive the money in arrears.
In order for you to receive the first payment, the following requirements need to be met:
- You must have started your studies.
- You must have submitted a study assurance to CSN certifying that you are studying pursuant to the information listed in the decision.
- The school has informed CSN that you are studying pursuant to the information listed in the decision.
If you receive a decision from CSN after your studies have begun and after the 25th of that same month, we will send the money immediately. We will not wait until the next month.
Required study results
When you study with student finance from CSN, you need to achieve certain study results, i.e. pass a certain number of credits, in order to be entitled to continue receiving student finance. We will check your study results when you apply.
The number of credits or courses you need to pass vary depending on what you study. If you have not achieved a passing grade from this previous study period, you will have to satisfy the study results requirement prior to receiving student finance for transition and retraining.
If anything changes, you become ill, or need to care for a sick child
Do your studies include fewer credits than you had initially planned? Have you interrupted your studies? These are examples of events that could have an impact on your grants and loans. It is therefore important that you report any such changes to us as soon as possible.
Changing circumstances that can have an effect on your student finance for transition and retraining:
- You rate of study changes, or your studies cover fewer credits.
- You interrupt your studies.
- You fall ill or need to care for a sick child.
- Your number of working hours increase.
If you are a foreign citizen, your right to Swedish student finance will also be affected should your number of working hours decrease or if the number of hours that your relative works decreases.
Repaying the loan
Student finance for transition and retraining is the same type of loan as a regular student loan (since 1 July 2001).
When it is time to start making repayments, you will receive a payment plan from CSN. In 2024, the interest rate on the loan is 1,23 per cent.
You start repaying the loan no earlier than six months after receiving your last student finance for transition and retraining payment. Repayment always starts after the end of a year.