Lånekassen grants

If you are a Norwegian citizen and you are going to study abroad in a language other than English, Danish or Swedish, you may be eligible for loans and grants for a language course from Lånekassen (the Norwegian Loan Fund).

In Spain, it is a requirement of Lånekassen that the language school is approved by the Instituto Cervantes and that the language studies conclude with a DELE exam which can be taken at six levels. TCLanguages Spanish courses meet these requirements as we are an Instituto Cervantes Accredited school and are an official Examinations Centre for DELE Diploma in Spanish as a Foreign Language.

Grants available for Language courses

The language course must be a preparation for studies abroad

To receive support, the language course must be intended to prepare you for studies abroad that you have already started or are planning to undertake.

Applies to full degree and exchange programme

You may be eligible for support for language courses both if you will be undertaking your entire studies abroad and in connection with exchange stays.

You may receive support for both short and long language courses

Lånekassen can provide support for both short and long language courses. However, different rules apply to the short and long language courses.

You cannot receive support for short and long language courses at the same time.

Short language courses

You may be eligible for a grant for short language courses whether you are undertaking your entire programme of education abroad or whether you are going on an exchange programme.

Requirements for short language courses:

• The course duration must be a minimum of four weeks, with 15 hours of teaching per week. It is not a requirement for the language course to have a continuous duration. Language grants may be given for language course combinations with a combined duration of at least four weeks.
• As a general rule, you will need to take the course in the country where you will be studying, which has to be a country outside of Scandinavia.
• You must have been admitted to a main programme of education that entitles you to support from Lånekassen. The course must be taught in a language other than English. We may approve parts of the programme of education being taught in English.
• The language course must be taken in addition to the credits you are otherwise planning to take in order for you to be eligible for a language grant.

You cannot normally receive grants for language courses in the same language more than once.

No separate application: You should apply for a language grant at the same time that you apply for ordinary support.

Longer language courses:

If you will be studying in a non-english speaking country outside of Scandinavia, you may be eligible for support for up to two semesters in order to take a language course.

You may be eligible for the same support as other students abroad to take a longer language course.

You may be eligible for basic support:

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.

In order to have 40 per cent of your loan converted into a grant, you must:

• complete your programme of education. After you have completed the course, you must submit your course certificate and any confirmation that you have passed an official language exam
• have income and assets below the set limits
• start a degree in the country where you took the language course, within one year of finishing the course (new in the academic year 2024-2025)

Other support:

You may also be entitled to support for travel and for tuition fees, if you have to pay them

Requirements for longer language courses:

• The course duration must be a minimum of three months, with 15 hours of teaching per week.
• The course must take place at a university or an accredited language school.
• Courses at language schools must conclude with an official language exam that forms the basis for admission to university and university college education in the country in question.

You must be planning to study in the country in question:

You do not need to have been admitted to a further programme of education in order to apply for support for the language course, but you must be planning to attend university and university college education in that country. The course you are planning to study for must be eligible for support from Lånekassen.

Remember that in order to have 40 per cent of your loan converted into a grant, you must start a degree in the country where you took the language course, within one year of finishing the course.

More information about the required documentation for longer language courses are available in Lanekassen’s oficial page here: https://lanekassen.no/en-US/grants-and-loans/abroad/language-course/documentation-language-course/

Apply here:

https://lanekassen.no/en-US/grants-and-loans/abroad/language-course/application-for-support-for-longer-language-coursee-of-the-nordic-region/

Disclaimer: all the information shared above in this page has been retrieved directly from Lånekassen official page here: https://lanekassen.no/en-US/grants-and-loans/abroad/language-course/ 

Please make sure to check that the information provided is still valid directly with Lånekassen.