Are you a part-time student?
- You will receive less loans and grants than if you study full-time.
- Interest is calculated on loans you already have.
- You must pay the loan.
Upper secondary education for adults
Only full-time students are eligible for full basic support
All students can receive basic support, and this is what most people call a student loan. If you are completing upper secondary education without statutory rights as a young person, you may be entitled to basic support of up to NOK 125,370 for the complete academic year (ten months). You need to be a full-time student in order to qualify for the full amount. The amount you can receive in loans and grants will be less if you are not studying full time.
If you are required to pay tuition fees, you may also receive a loan for tuition fees in addition to the basic support.
The difference between full-time and part-time
The factor that determines whether you are considered a full-time or part-time student is how long you will take to complete your course and how many subjects/hours you will complete during the period.
In order to be considered a full-time student, you need to complete an average of 980 hours per academic year if you are completing vocational education and 840 hours if you are completing university-preparatory. You will be considered a part-time student if you are completing fewer hours than this on average.
The amount you can receive as a part-time student will be calculated based on your part-time percentage. The part-time percentage will be determined based on the number of subjects you are taking (number of hours) and the time it will take to complete your course. If, for example, you are completing 980 hours of a vocational programme over two full academic years, you will have a part-time percentage of 50.
If you start your course after 16 August or finish before 15 June of an academic year, the duration of your course will be considered too short for you to qualify for the full amount of NOK 125,370. You will receive basic support from the date on which you start your course until the date on which you complete your course.
Examples of part-time courses
You are attending school from 18 August 2022 until 6 June 2024 and are taking subjects from a vocational education programme resulting in a total of 954 hours. You will be considered a part-time student and your part-time percentage is 49.58.
Do you receive support for full-time or part-time studies?
Your loan and grant decision will state whether you are eligible for support for full-time or part-time studies.
Do you have statutory rights as an adult?
If you have statutory rights as an adult pursuant to Section 4A-3 of the Norwegian Education Act, you will receive grants and loans for physical education even if you are exempt from the subject. The hours assigned for physical education will be added automatically when the school informs us that you have statutory rights as an adult.
The county council will determine whether you have statutory rights as an adult.