Student loans are very common, yes. The Norwegian system is pretty good though, in my opinion. Lånekassen translates to 'The Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund', and has been around since 1947. They ensure that everyone, regardless of background, can afford higher education :)
"Everyone can get up to NOK 87 600 each academic year (ten months). The total amount is initially given as a loan. If you do not live in the same house as your parents, up to 40 percent of the amount may be converted to a grant. In order to receive maximum grant you have to;
- pass all your exams - earn less than NOK 128 360 in 2009 - have assets not exceeding NOK 253 932"
I don't live with my parents, so I've received a lot of grant money. They also have a very reasonable repayment plan, which makes it easier on students.
"Loans from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) are interest free as long as you are a student and you receive or are entitled to support.
Interest is calculated from the first day of the month following your graduation. We also calculate interest if you interrupt your education or when you are no longer entitled to financial support.
Repayment: After graduation, you will receive a repayment programme stipulating how much you have to pay and a prognosis for the time frame of you repayment period - The first payment is normally made about seven months after graduation - There are four instalments per year
Special schemes for difficult life situations: Lånekassen has schemes and arrangements that ordinary banks do not have. In cases of low income, unemployment, illness, childbirth or care of small children, we may waive the interest and you may postpone repayments for a period."
So really, it's not as bad as it seems. :) Sure, I'll be repaying this thing for quite a while, but so what? I wouldn't have been able to afford my education without this support system.
... Sorry for the long comment, omg what o_o; you may not find this interesting at all, ahahhaha XDDDD
Jeg aner ikke 8D Du vet, meg og tall. Ololol. Men 40 er da bedre enn 30, så good times.
BTW jeg har fortsatt din Pronouncing Dictionary. Vi burde møtes og henge en dag y/y? :D Hva gjør du dette semesteret egentlig? Eller er du ferdig? Jeg er så uoppdatert, ahahhaa :D
Jeg jobber bare jeg. :D Fikk et vikariat på CC Vest for ei i mammaperm, så jeg skal jobbe der til jeg forhåpentligvis begynner på master i høst. Men ja, vi må gjøre noe! ... jeg vet bare ikke hva. :D
DET STEMMER DET. Jeg vet jo dette, ahaha hva er galt med meg :D
Vel det er bare å si ifra når du har tid til å finne på noe. Jeg er up for whatever XD Jeg tar jo bare ett fag dette semesteret, så jeg trooooor jeg kommer til å ha en del fri :P *spoiled brat*
Thats a very interesting system. I'm afraid we don't have a system like that here but instead public schools are practically free. It's not bad but it really tightens the school's budget sometimes. Good to know you are doing fine at school :)
That's the funny thing, though. University is essentially free. Semester fee is around $100, and you have to buy your own textbooks, but that's it. Thing is that a lot of people have to move in order to attend uni. We need money to live. UiO doesn't have dorms, but several "student villages" with pretty reasonable rent. Still a lot of people choose to find "real" flats, or whatever I'm supposed to call it XD; The idea is that if you get support from lånekassen you shouldn't have to take on a part time job. But in reality, it's difficult to live on 5000NOK ($880) a month. :/ I got through my first year at uni without any support at all (lived with my parents), but the 1 hour travel to uni was very inconvenient. I managed to live as a full time student (no part time job, but support from lånekassen) for a bit over a year, but only because I had Christian to help out with expenses, and because I never spent any money on partying or eating out. I'm not your average student when it comes to my spending, haha.
My financial situation improved a lot when I got my part time job, but I still get support from lånekassen.
Also most study programmes at UiO involve a semester abroad. I wouldn't have been able to go to Japan unless I'd had lånekassen to support me ^^; That was quite expensive (had to pay for school, dorm, classes ++++) @_@;
Haha, it's fine! I think it's very interesting :D. I love hearing about the differences between educational systems. Hearing about student loans just reminded me of the USA, where I hear people can be in pretty bad debt before they're even out of college.
Education itself is pretty affordable for most people in Belgium, but I get the part about needing money to live on XD. Here the 'poor' students get Student Financing, and it's basically just money they get for free rather than a loan. But because of that it's far more limited and I don't think a lot of people could live off of it D:.
"Everyone can get up to NOK 87 600 each academic year (ten months). The total amount is initially given as a loan. If you do not live in the same house as your parents, up to 40 percent of the amount may be converted to a grant. In order to receive maximum grant you have to;
- pass all your exams
- earn less than NOK 128 360 in 2009
- have assets not exceeding NOK 253 932"
I don't live with my parents, so I've received a lot of grant money. They also have a very reasonable repayment plan, which makes it easier on students.
"Loans from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) are interest free as long as you are a student and you receive or are entitled to support.
Interest is calculated from the first day of the month following your graduation. We also calculate interest if you interrupt your education or when you are no longer entitled to financial support.
Repayment:
After graduation, you will receive a repayment programme stipulating how much you have to pay and a prognosis for the time frame of you repayment period
- The first payment is normally made about seven months after graduation
- There are four instalments per year
Special schemes for difficult life situations:
Lånekassen has schemes and arrangements that ordinary banks do not have. In cases of low income, unemployment, illness, childbirth or care of small children, we may waive the interest and you may postpone repayments for a period."
So really, it's not as bad as it seems. :) Sure, I'll be repaying this thing for quite a while, but so what? I wouldn't have been able to afford my education without this support system.
... Sorry for the long comment, omg what o_o; you may not find this interesting at all, ahahhaha XDDDD
Thank you! :D
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BTW jeg har fortsatt din Pronouncing Dictionary. Vi burde møtes og henge en dag y/y? :D Hva gjør du dette semesteret egentlig? Eller er du ferdig? Jeg er så uoppdatert, ahahhaa :D
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Jeg jobber bare jeg. :D Fikk et vikariat på CC Vest for ei i mammaperm, så jeg skal jobbe der til jeg forhåpentligvis begynner på master i høst. Men ja, vi må gjøre noe! ... jeg vet bare ikke hva. :D
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Vel det er bare å si ifra når du har tid til å finne på noe. Jeg er up for whatever XD Jeg tar jo bare ett fag dette semesteret, så jeg trooooor jeg kommer til å ha en del fri :P *spoiled brat*
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\o/ Jeg er ferdig på jobb kl 3 onsdag, torsdag og fredag til uka hvis du vil finne på noe da.
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Good to know you are doing fine at school :)
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My financial situation improved a lot when I got my part time job, but I still get support from lånekassen.
Also most study programmes at UiO involve a semester abroad. I wouldn't have been able to go to Japan unless I'd had lånekassen to support me ^^; That was quite expensive (had to pay for school, dorm, classes ++++) @_@;
:D
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Education itself is pretty affordable for most people in Belgium, but I get the part about needing money to live on XD. Here the 'poor' students get Student Financing, and it's basically just money they get for free rather than a loan. But because of that it's far more limited and I don't think a lot of people could live off of it D:.
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