Support loans from the Icelandic Student Loans Fund are not set to increase and will remain around ISK 100,000 (USD 780) per month for individuals, according to Morgunbladid sources. A student body representative said that the unchanged loan figure will start forcing students out of studying and onto unemployment benefit because their additional revenue raising options are now few-to-none. The Minister for Education is on record describing the situation as “serious”.
Ingolfur Birgir Sigurgeirsson, a representative of the University of Iceland Student Council and a board member at the Icelandic Student Loans Fund, said the outlook is black. “Considering the ever-increasing prices, this means serious reductions to student purchasing power,” he said. “This increases the chances of students having to leave their studies and take unemployment benefit instead, because today’s employment market is not allowing many students to work part-time while they study. The way things are today, university education is on its way to becoming only for the rich.”
Morgunbladid also has information stating that the preliminary rules for this year will allow students to earn up to a million Kronur (USD 7,805) per year without having their loans docked. Students earning over a million have their student loan entitlement cut by 25 percent.
Individual unemployment benefit is ISK 149,523 and typical student room accommodation in Reykjavik costs in the region of ISK 50,000 per month.
What about students who study abroad? For example, do Icelandic students in London get only £500 (ISK 100,000) per month?!
The amount of unemployment benefit seems to be very nice…… Do the Icelander need to pay tax for this benefit? Or all of these money go straight into their pocket?
Thinking joining the force? :-)
Forget about it. First you have to pay heavy taxes out of your pocket to be able to get this “benefit”.
And yes – all “incomes” are shown BEFORE taxes.
As to students – well my parents were supporting me. I’m supporting my “kids” now. It always was the case. There was a small stipend – equal around 25,000 ISK. That’s all. No loans. Well, textbooks were free!!! You just got them in the campus library for the time of study. And other books were affordable even for students.
Ya well this doesn’t surprise me… I’m 100% student in the university with a part time job and am expecting a baby next month. According to the Icelandic law, I can only apply either as a worker or as a student. A full time student gets around 110.000 isk a month as motherhood benefit (fæðingarorlof) while if you work, it’s 80% of the average of your whole year income 2 months before giving birth… HOW THE HELL IS THAT FAIR FOR ANY WORKING STUDENTS with all the tax increase and over-all price increase in the country?? I’m just so disappointed that there is no law for working students.
The government is just starting…in months to come, they’ll find all the benefit cuts and tax increase in this country they can find to pay for the debts the ordinary citizens didn’t even anything to do with, in the first place.
They’re basically forcing people OUT of Iceland
They’re really forcing everyone out of the country
I just wish good luck to stutents. What a good sunny day in iceland ,But what a sad day for the Icelandic Krona 180 to just 1 Euro. the deepest value collapse in all history. I am so scared of this new governement.
Well, Gus, Niels, Peter, and myself have been saying for a long time this was going to happen, and guess what? this is only the beginning, what is happening now is just the first and soft part, the worst is still to come, in the coming YEARS(not months) so get ready and used to it, wellcome to eastern europe and in a copple of years even worse than that.
To all Icelandic students waiting for a loan:
The elections were just 2 months ago? Why didn’t you think who you voted for? If you don’t like the crappy left government why don’t you protest again and vote new people until the politicians got the lesson? Why you leave Iceland? Make the things so that they must leave, not you. Our Iceland is a great country and these national traitors don’t deserve it, neither do you when you vote for them.
The new government, the old government, another government..
Listen – The situation here is so f*cked that either one is doomed to make huuuuuge mistakes and only small steps forward. There’s always a siren singing you to shipwreck. We are accidents waiting to happen.
kina “The amount of unemployment benefit seems to be very nice”
IT IS ONLY 833 EUROS “MAXIMUM” IN SPAIN IT IS 1200 EUROS MAXIMUM.. SO GO FIGURE… THEY ARE EARNING A 30% LESS THAN IN SPAIN!! AND THAT IS IN THE BEST OF CASES…
THE WORST THING IS THAT, WHILE IN SPAIN YOU CAN GET YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT MONEY AND FREELY ATTEND UNIVERSITY ( AND IN MANY CASES GET ALSO A GOOD GRANT YOU DON´T NEED TO PAY BACK), IN ICELAND THEY HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN A LOAN OF MISERY OR STOP STUDYING AND GETTING THE UNEMPLOYMENT…
BUT OF COURSE ICELAND IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!
I THINK ANY EASTERN EUROPEAN STUDENT HAS BETTER CONDITIONS THAN IN ICELAND…
“The way things are today, university education is on its way to becoming only for the rich.”
WELCOME TO POVERTY AND THE STATUS OF “UNDERDEVELOPED” NATION…
“They’re basically forcing people OUT of Iceland
They’re really forcing everyone out of the country”
THIS IS THE KIND OF SITUATIONS I HAVE BEEN PREDICTING FOR A LONG TIME, AND BEEN CALLED PESSIMIST, NOW IS TURNIG TO BE PURE REALISM…
[quote]I’m 100% student in the university with a part time job and am expecting a baby next month. According to the Icelandic law, I can only apply either as a worker or as a student. A full time student gets around 110.000 isk a month as motherhood benefit (fæðingarorlof) while if you work, it’s 80% of the average of your whole year income 2 months before giving birth… HOW THE HELL IS THAT FAIR FOR ANY WORKING STUDENTS with all the tax increase and over-all price increase in the country??[/quote]
I understand in Iceland, young and/or single pregnancies are perhaps more common than where I live; still, if you’re a full-time student with a part-time job to support herself, is having a baby really the wisest thing to do? (in home economics terms – I don’t mean to be judgemental here)
Surely if any hardships arise from this particular situation, it isn’t entirely the governement’s responsibility (though I agree the situation described in the original article is unfortunate).
This makes NO sense to me whatsoever!!!
I am a full time student…It is summer now, there is not a job to be had…SO, I went to the unemployment office, I applied and they said “yes”…You have to attend a meeting first. So, I went to the meeting and it was all about HOW to leave Iceland, and how they will provide unemployment to a person to find work abroad, for up to 3 months…I asked them, “What about us full time students?”…They said..”Sorry, does not apply to You”…The next puzzling thing is the Unemployment benefit today is around 140 kr a month…The Student loan ( Which we pay back and goes back into the economy) is alot less….And from what I see, will not be going up to match the current inflation prices…For example, I live in a student apartment that went from 79kr monthly up to now 100kr monthly…..I am lucky to have family, I think about those who are really on their own!!!…
Where is the thinking behind keeping the student LOAN so low and raising money for unemployment????
I will end up taking my education to another country and taxes for that unemployment will be lost to Iceland…They need to raise the loans!
This seems obvious, but they are not getting it!!!
not us, GUS …. and despite Icelandic wage is nearly the same as ours, their bills are damn cheaper than here.
I DONT GET YOU DENSOU, ONE GIRL WORKING AT A CLOTHES STORE MAKES AROUND 130.000 A MONTH IN ICELAND ( 700 EUROS) IN SPAIN, SOMEONE WORKING AT THE SAME WOULD MAKE AT LEAST 900 EUROS ( AND FOR EXTRA PAYMENTS A YEAR), SO SALARIES IN SPAIN ARE CONSIDERABLY HIGHER THAN IN ICELAND.
BUT FOOD PRICES IN ICELAND ARE WAY HIGHER THAN THOSE IN SPAIN ( MANY THINGS HAVE TO BE IMPORTED, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE SOME AS NECESSARY AS A TOOTH BRUSH..) AND IT HAS AN ADDED VALUE OF 40% ON IT AS IT IS NOT CONSIDERED A GOOD OF FIRST NECESSITY… SO GO FIGURE!!! PRICES IN ICELAND WHERE EXPENSIVE, AND ARE GOING EXPENSIVE AGAIN.
SO YOU EXPLAIN ME DENSOU, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY WHERE YOU EARN 30% LESS THAN IN SPAIN BUT LIFE COSTS 50% MORE?? CAN YOU DO SOME MATHEMATICS FOR ME?? BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 80% LESS ADQUISITION POWER… UPPSS, IT COMES OUT TO BE MORE OR LESS THE SAME % THE KRONA HAS WEAKENED!!!
LOOK DENSOU, THE KRONA HASN´T PLUMBED FOR NOTHING… THIS HUGE DEVALUATION IS BEING NOTICED (AND WILL BE) IN ICELANDERS POCKETS IN A HORRIBLE WAY…
JUST AN EXAMPLE, I HAVE A VERY GOOD SALARY THAT IS OVER THE AVERAGE ( WAY OVER BY THE WAY), BUT IN EUROS IT COMES TO BE LESS OF WHAT SOMEONE WITH THE SAME PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WOULD MAKE IN EU, AND EVEN IN SPAIN.
BUT: I BOUGHT A COMPUTER FOR 200.000 ISK, TODAY, THE VERY SAME MODEL, EXACTLY THE SAME COSTS 367.000 ISK,
EVERYTHING IS MORE EXPENSIVE NOW, THE MORTAGES, THE FOOD, ELECTRIC THINGS, ETC… BUT PEOPLES WAGES ( THOSE WHO ARE LUCKY TO STILL HOLD A JOB IN THIS SINKING COUNTRY) HAVE REMAINED THE SAME…
IN SPAIN AT LEAST PEOPLE USE THE EURO, GET A GOOD SOCIAL ASSISTANCE ( THAT HAVE BEEN INCREASED, NOT REDUCED, IN TIMES OF CRISIS), AND PRICES REMAIN THE SAME WITH A SLIGHTLY 0.9 % INCREASE SINCE LAST YEAR. THE GOVERNMENT EVEN GIVES YOU 4000 EUROS IF YOU BUY A NEW CAR, SO IF YOU BUY A CAR FOR 12.000, THE GOVERNMENT IS AUTOMATICALLY PAYING 1/3.
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE HAVE INCREASED IN MANY WAYS FOR PEOPLE IN NECESSITY, SPECIALLY SINGLE MOTHERS AND STUDENTS WITHOUT RESOURCES. THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OFFERS THIS YEAR AN INCREASED 30% IN THE MILLIONS OF EUROS DESTINED TO SUPPORT STUDENTS WITH LOW INCOME. MONEY THEY DON´T HAVE TO PAY BACK.
FOR OTHER STUDENTS THAT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO SUPPORT STUDIES AT PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES, BUT WANT TO TAKE SPECIAL STUDIES AT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OR INSTITUTIONS ABROAD, THEY CAN GET ( WITHOUT ANY LIMITS ON THE FAMILY OR PERSONAL INCOME) 35.000 EUROS LOAN, WITH NO INTEREST AT ALL ( 6.300.000 ISK) FOR TWO YEARS OF STUDIES AT MASTERS LEVEL. IF, AFTER FINISHING THE MASTER, A STUDENT DOES NOT EARN MORE THAN 22.000 EUROS A YEAR DURING THE FOLLOWING 5 YEARS, THE LOAN IS TOTALLY FORGIVEN!!!
THAT IS SUPPORTING THE STUDENTS!! SPAIN HAS NOW ONE OF THE BEST GRANTS SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD, BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT EDUCATION IS THE INVESTMENT OF THE 21ST CENTURY. ICELAND WILL HAVE FISHES, BUT WE WILL HAVE WELL TRAINED PROFESSIONALS IN ALL FIELDS…
ICELAND IS EXPERIMENTING A FLEED OF BRAINS, THAT IS GOING TO LET THIS COUNTRY INHABITATED ONLY BY FARMERS AND A FEW BANKERS AND POLITICIANS THAT WILL CONTROL EVERYTHING…
THIS IS WORST THAN POLAN IN ITS FIRST POST-COMMUNIST YEARS…
All I have to say is that getting a loan as a student in many european countries is very, very difficult. Your parents’ financial situation is carefully considered and you are basically responsible for their mistakes (for instance, if they have plenty of debts, the bank is likely to reject your demand). So, you have this country, Iceland, where everyone is basically complaining (with the help of some outsiders), when in the end, it should never be forgotten that at least, Icelandic students have the choice of studying or not. I live very well with the Icelandic loan as it is, I have an appartment, a little family, and can live decently. Sure thing, we don’t buy plenty of Ipods and don’t go to the restaurant every week. But I am forever thankful to be given the opportunity to study and never be hungry.
But I reckon that the situation of Icelandic students abroad is a more difficult issue.
>IT IS ONLY 833 EUROS “MAXIMUM” IN SPAIN IT IS 1200 >EUROS MAXIMUM.. SO GO FIGURE… THEY ARE EARNING A >30% LESS THAN IN SPAIN!! AND THAT IS IN THE BEST OF >CASES…
GUS, to earn 833 euro a month by doing nothing is really a fairy tale to us. In our country, people work in sweat shop, risk all kind of deadly job and just earn a quarter of Icelandic people unemployment benefit. Come to Kina and you would know what “hell” really means. I think Icelander should be proud of their welfare system.
kina123 , Just give it time, when a person is diagnosed with a deadly desease yo dont see the person dying the next day it takes a proses of deterioration.
yep, and Italy can only imagine a welfare like the Icelandic one….
Post-communist years have occurred since 1946 here, Gus….and no improvement at all, I hope you can waste a HUGE amount of time for seeing the whole matter in this awful land.