Exchange programme at a university or university college

If you are planning to attend an exchange programme abroad, select this in your application. In the same application, you may attach information about your Norwegian educational institution.

Veileder Utveksling

Young woman with backpack. Photo.

Support for exchange programmes

Lånekassen offers loans and grants for exchange programmes outside the Nordic region. Some countries are eligible for an additional grant.

Application deadlines

You must have a study place before applying and you may apply no earlier than mid-May. The final deadline for applying is

  • 15 November for the entire year or just the autumn semester
  • 15 March for the spring semester

Your educational institution must approve your exchange

When you go on exchange, it is the place of study where you are taking your main degree that approves the exchange. To receive grants and loans, the exchange must be approved in advance as part of your degree. You will be asked about this in the application, so wait to apply until you know that your place of study has approved your exchange.

In addition, the stay must last at least four weeks to be eligible for support. Your place of study can give you more information about how to apply for pre-approval of an exchange abroad.

Most students do not need to submit documentation

Most Norwegian places of study provide us with the information we need about your exchange, so you should not send us anything unless you are asked to. In some cases, for example if you study at BI, you must upload documentation showing that the exchange has been approved. You can read more about this further down the page.

All students receive basic support and travel support

Most people receive three different types of support for exchange programmes with a foreign university: Basic support, travel support and support for tuition fees if you have to pay tuition fees.

All students can receive basic support, which is what most people call a student loan. Basic support is a loan, not a grant, but up to 40 per cent of this may be converted to a grant if you live away from your parents, complete your programme of education and your degree and have income and assets below the set limits.

If you have to pay tuition fees, you may be eligible for support to cover the tuition fees, up to a maximum amount, depending on where you are studying and how much you have to pay.

We also provide travel support to subsidise two return trips to the continent in which you are studying.

Some countries are eligible for an additional grant

If you are participating in an exchange programme to Brazil, India, Japan, China, South Africa or South Korea, you will receive an additional recruitment grant at 4,401 NOK per month. You can receive this grant for up to ten months. 

To receive this grant, you must either:

  • attend an exchange programme to one of these countries from a place of study in Norway, or
  • complete your entire degree in one of these countries

This means that if you have already started a full degreee in a country outside of Norway that is not one of these countries, and then attend an exchange programme in Brazil, India, China, Japan, South Africa og South Korea, you will not receive this grant.

Debt and repayments

Lånekassen loans are interest-free and you do not need to start making repayments for as long as you remain a full-time student and receive support from us. When you no longer receive support from Lånekassen for full-time studies, interest on the loan will start to accrue and you will need to start repayments around nine months later.

Go to the application

Documentation you must upload yourself

Most students going on exchange do not need to send us anything. However, there are some exceptions.

There are three situations where you must submit documentation yourself:

You must document approval if your place of study does not use FS

If your place of study uses FS, they will register information about your exchange there. We then retrieve this information automatically, and you do not need to submit documentation of approval.

See which places of study use FS on the FS website.

If you cannot find your place of study on this list, it does not use FS. BI and Bjørknes, for example, do not use it. In that case, you must submit a separate form after you have applied for loans and grants. Your place of study must stamp and approve the form before you upload it on Dine sider.

Go to the exchange form (bottom of the page)

You must document that you are paying tuition fees

If you are going to pay tuition fees, you must upload a signed confirmation (an official letter) from the place of study abroad showing your name and the amount you must pay in tuition fees. You do this on the page Send documentation after logging in to Dine sider.

The document must clearly show which costs are tuition fees, and which are other expenses. This is because Lånekassen does not cover expenses such as student association fees, administrative fees, or library fees.

We do not accept a Confirmation of Enrolment alone as documentation of tuition fees, because it does not show possible discounts given to Norwegian students.

If you receive a grant from someone other than Lånekassen intended to cover tuition fees, you must include confirmation showing the amount.

Are you above the age of 30?

Then you can apply for up to
NOK 119,240
in additional loans per year

You can borrow up to NOK 119,240 extra per year if you are a full-time student, which corresponds to 60 credits per year. If you are taking fewer credits, you will be given an offer to borrow a smaller amount. You may borrow up to NOK 238,480 in total, and you may choose how many years you want to allocate the loan across. You apply for the loan on the same form as for ordinary loans and grants.

The loan may not be combined with additional loans for those with children.

Read more about additional loans

 

Do you have children?

You may receive extra
loans and grants
if you have or get children

If you have a child during your studies, or within seven months of completing a degree, you can receive a parental grant.

Parental grant in the event of birth or adoption

If you have children while studying, your basic support and additional loan for school fees may be converted to a grant for up to 49 weeks.

Child grant

If you have children below the age of 16, you may qualify for an additional grant. If you have several children, you receive more in grants. The child grant is means tested, which means that the amount is reduced if the family has income or assets in excess of the limits stipulated in the regulations. If you are a part-time student, you also get a smaller amount.

Additional loans

You may also borrow NOK 59,620 extra per year when you have children below the age of 16, with an upward limit of NOK 119,240 in total. Income and assets have no impact on whether you can receive an additional loan. If you are a part-time student, you will be offered a loan with a smaller amount.

Read about children and childbirth

Language course
You may receive support for a language course if the teaching is in another language than English.
Extended grants for tuition fees
Some educational institutions abroad entitle you to extended grant to pay for tuition fees.

When unexpected things happen

When something happens in your life or in your studies, it may impact what you are entitled to receive from Lånekassen, either now or later.
Young boy with a book and a young girl with a phone. Photo.

Converting loans to grants

Up to 40 per cent of basic support may be converted to a grant if you pass your studies and graduate with a degree.

Your Norwegian educational institution reports to Lånekassen

If you are participating in an exchange programme from a Norwegian educational institution, we will receive the information that you have passed your studies directly from that institution. You will therefore not have to submit anything to us in order for your loan to be converted.

If you have participated in an exchange programme from a foreign educational institution, you will have to document your results yourself for your loan to be converted. You do not need to submit examination results before you have completed your degree.

Students attending longer language courses

You may also receive basic support to complete a language course in countries outside Scandinavia. In order for 40 percent of the loan you received to take a language course to be turned into a grant, you must meet a few requirements.

You must complete the course and language exam, and begin studying in the same country within one year after completing the course.

Read more about loans and grants for language courses.

Read more about the general rules for conversion.

Other resources

Rules