The Student Loan Funds Allocation rules for the school year 2021-2022 have been approved by the Minister of Education, Science, and Culture.

The Student Council is surprised to learn that the decision to increase the basic subsistence allowance for subsistence loans was not taken beforehand when the allocation rules were approved. Students have long demanded an increase and have been in repeated contact with the government about the process, therefore the Student Council considers it surprising that student representatives were not informed that an increase, in addition to an increase due to price level changes, would not be ready with the allocation rules yesterday and that a new group would be tasked with working on proposals to that effect before the st of May.

The Student Council hopes that the government will take action and that the proposals result in an increase in the basic subsistence allowance for the next school year. The council also acknowledges SÍNE’s comments regarding the conditions of students abroad and finds it disappointing that SÍNE’s demands are not included in the allocation rules. They whished for a safeguard, for the board of the Fund to check whether students abroad are allowed a local supplement if exchange rate fluctuations are large.

The main changes to the Menntasjóður’s allocation rules for the school year 2021-2022

Increase of the personal income limit
The Student Council welcomes that the personal income limit has been increased from 1.364.000KR to 1.411.000KR. It is authorised fivefolded the limit for a student if the student has not been on student loans from the Menntasjóður for the past 6 months. The Student Council believes that the authorization does not apply to all students and reiterates its position that all students should be given the opportunity to apply for a fivefold increase.

Increased flexibility for credit-eligible units and credit rights
The Student Council welcomes the increased flexibility for students regarding the division of credits between study levels. In the previous allocation rules, 180 ECTS credits were earmarked for undergraduate studies and 120 ECTS credits for earmarked for master’s studies. These study levels have now been combined and students are entitled to a loan for 300 ECTS credits in undergraduate or master’s studies. This means that students have the flexibility to allocate 300 ECTS credits to undergraduate or master’s studies. The leeway of 120 ECTS credits (in addition to a student’s choice at the undergraduate, master’s or doctoral level) together with 60 ECTS credits for a doctoral loan still stands.

Exemption for disability
The condition for exemption for academic progress due to disability is reduced from 75% to 50%. SHÍ believes that this change will increase access to education for those students who are covered by the exemption.

Application deadlines
The application deadlines for student loans have been moved and will now be 15 September (for the autumn semester), 15 January (for the spring semester) and 15 June (for the summer semester). SHÍ is pleased that the application deadlines have been moved a little further into the semester. However, it must be kept in mind that student conditions can change significantly in the middle of a semester, and therefore the Council believes that the application deadlines are still too early in the semester.

Private pension product paid out in 2021
Applicants for student loans who receive a personal pension savings payment in the year 2021 can request that it be exempted from the calculation of their student loan for the school year 2021-2022.

Income from work in the rearguard
Students can request that income earned income from working in the rearguard of the health care system, welfare services and the police will not be deducted from student loans for the school year 2021-2022.

 

The Student Council draws attention to the fact that further information on H-loan repayments can be found in the new allocation rules.
The Student Council wishes to inform students that the requirement for notarized leases is still to be found in the allocation rules for the next school year.