The student grants scheme in Denmark – an overview

The article describes the Danish scheme for student grants and loans. It is the most financially generous for students among EU countries. Expatriates who want to study in Denmark can be entitled to student grants and loans by meeting some additional requirements. This is described in more detail. The receivable amounts depends on whether the education is a youth or higher education and also on the residency of the students. The receivable amounts and the income, students are allowed to earn from work while receiving grants is also laid out.

Financial support provided for students in Denmark are compared to that of other countries. Besides the grants and loans provided, this includes the possible tuition fees to be paid in a country. And also general welfare benefits that are not specifically targeted at students but still available for students. Also in this broader context, studying in Denmark is at the top among EU countries from the financial perspective of students.

The scheme for student grants and loans in Denmark

The Danish Students’ Grants and Loans Scheme (commonly referred to as “SU”) is a public financial support program in Denmark designed to provide students with financial assistance during their education. It is one of the most generous student support systems in the world. The aim is to ensure equal access to education for all citizens – independent on individual background and personal financial ressources. And enable students to focus on their education without significant financial pressure.

Student grants are a universal welfare benefit for all Danish citizens. As of 2023 436.000 students received student grants and 87.000 received student loans. Expatriates without Danish citizenship who want to study in Denmark can also be entitled to student grants. The additional requirements to fullfil is described further below.

The education system in Denmark

It consists of 4 broader levels of education – each tailored to different age groups and life stages.

Primary and lower secondary education

This education is compulsory and lasts 10 years. It is provided by municipal schools, private schools and continuation schools. The pupils’ ages are from 6 to 15 years. Primary and lower secondary education is integrated within a single structure. About 20% of pupils attend a private school and 80% attend a public school. The private schools are run as private bodies but are largely financed by the government.

Upper secondary education

Also called youth education. It usually takes two to four years and is attended by students between the ages of 15 and 19. Secondary education is not compulsory, but usually free of charge. Students have a wide range of programmes to choose from. Some education programmes are oriented towards higher education, the most common being the Gymnasium. Others are more practically orientated, training students for jobs such as artisans or clerks.

Higher education

Higher education in Denmark is taught at universities, university colleges and academies of professionals. The vast majority of educations is provided by the public sector and regulated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Bachelor educations has a standard length of 3 years while the following masters education takes 2 years. On average students complete the education with an excess of 1,9 months as of 2023. In 2012 the average exceedance was 4,2 months. The average age of students starting a higher education is 22 years. So many students do not start immediately after their youth education. Instead they choose to work, travel or some other activity for a period before starting their higher education.

Adult education and continuing training

Denmark has a long-standing tradition of lifelong learning. Students attending these educations must pay tuition fees which is not the case for the educations mentioned above. In this category some of the courses and education are provided by private educational companies. This applies for some masters and bachelors programmes. But must educations is provided by public education sites. At adult education students can not get student grants. Instead another income support scheme “The State Educational Support for Adults scheme” (abbreviated “SVU”) is provided by the state. This scheme is described in a section below. These educations are intended for people working in ordinary employment. They be attended as part time studies besides the job or by temporary leave from the job. Students here are above 25 years of age. The most important educations here are:

• General adult education (Abbreviated “AVU” in danish language).
• Adult vocational training (“AMU”).
• Academy Profession programmes. Correspond to the level of Academy profession education within the ordinary education system.
• Diploma programmes. Correspond to the level of Bachelor educations.
• MBA programmes. Correspond to the level of Masters educations in the ordinary higher education system.

So student grants and loans are provided to students at youth eduations (upper secondary educations) and higher education. But not at primary and adult educations. It is only possible to get SU grants at private education suppliers if these educations are authorized by The Agency for Higher Education and Research. You can read more about Danish educations in this article: The Best Education in Denmark: A Guide for Expats.

Requirements for expatriates to be entitled to student grants

The Student grants are primarily aimed at and intended for Danish citizens. But as is the case for must welfare benefits in Denmark, expatriates with residence in Denmark, can also get student grants. To be entitled they must meet some additional requirements which are laid out in this section. The rules distinguish between students coming from EU or EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and students coming from outside the EU and EEA. It is easier to be eligible if you come from an EU or EEA country – students coming from outside the EU and EEA must meet stricter requirements. The official website in English to apply for SU grants is: Official website in english to apply for SU.  Here you can also read about the requirements and amounts for SU grants in more detail.

Apply by EU rules:

• EU citizens who are in Denmark for studying can get SU if they work at least 10-12 hours per week besides the study. Thereby they have the status of being a EU-worker and are entitled to SU.
• You have resided in Denmark for at least 5 years.
• A child of an EU/EEA citizen who is a worker in Denmark under EU law.
• Married to an EU/EEA citizen who is a worker in Denmark under EU law.

Note that you only need to fulfill one of the above requirements to apply and possibly be entitled to SU under the EU rules.

Apply be the Danish rules:

Alternatively you can apply for being entitled to SU by the Danish rules. This is most relevant for students coming from outside EU and EEA. But students coming from inside EU/EEA can also apply by the danish rules. To be eligible one of the following criteria must be meet:

• You came to Denmark with your parents. And moved to the country before your 20th birthday. You and your parents have permanent residence in Denmark.
• Married to a Danish citizen. You have lived in Denmark for a minimum of two consecutive years and are married to a Danish citizen for at least two years.
• Are working or have worked in Denmark. You have lived in Denmark for a continuous period of at least two years and have had at least 30 hours’ paid work a week that is registered and can be documented.
• Residence in Denmark for a minimum of 5 years. Your primary purpose in coming to Denmark may not have been that you were going to study.

If the application is approved by the Danish authorities, the applicant is then entitled to student grants and loans by the same conditions as Danish citizens.

The receivable amounts for student grants in Denmark

The SU grant system uses the period of months as a counting unit instead of years. This method is the most appropriate one as education starts and ends at varying points in time throughout a calendar year. Each student has a total of 70 months of student grants to use while studying. This is the maximum months of student grants available for all educations attended by one student. So if a student as an example decides to stop at one education untimely after 12 months of studying and receiving student grants in all months and instead shifts to another education, he then has 58 months remaining on his SU grant account for this education and potentially other educations later on.

Students can take breaks from studying in favor of other activities (such as working or travelling). If the break from study is 4 months as an example, the SU grant for these 4 months can then be saved and used when returning to the study. This is administered at the official website “SU.dk” where students can report on such changes by a digital self-service solution.

The monthly amount receivable depends on whether the education is a youth education or higher education. Furthermore the amount depends on whether you live with your parents or not. The grant consists of a base receivable amount and a supplement depending on parents income. For students at higher educations who live at their own residence, there is no supplement and so only a base receivable amount. The SU grant amounts are summarized in the table below. All amounts reported are before tax and valid for a single person in the year 2025. Students with children are entitled to higher grant amounts.

Table: Receivable amounts for student grants

Source: The official website for SU: “SU.dk”.

Notes to the table:

• The supplement decreases by higher income of parents. The maximum supplement requires the income of parents to be below 400.371 DKK per year. When parents’ income exceeds  677.554 DKK there is no supplement – and only the base amount. 
• Students with children automatically get the maximum supplement amount independently of their parents income.
• The figures for maximum allowed income from working and other sources is the maximum amounts in the months where the student gets SU. In months, where a student is studying but for some reasons not getting SU, the allowed maximum amounts are higher.

Taxation of income from student grants

Student grants are taxable income. Importantly here is that the labor market contribution at 8% does not apply, as this tax only applies for labor income. The average tax rate for students in 2025 is then 37,1% with some allowed deductions. The actual tax rate depends on the municipality which the students have residence at and varies slightly between municipalities. All taxpayers and also students have a personal allowed deduction of 51.600 DKK per year as of 2025 meaning that income up to 51.600 is free of tax. Students can perhaps have some other deductions depending on individual financial circumstances. The employment deduction with an allowed deduction of 12,3% of labor income only applies for income from working and can not be used for income from SU grants. 

Students can have quit significant income from work while they receive student grants

Students can work part time besides their education and still get a SU grant. There are some limits for how much can be earned with the maximum amounts shown in the table above. The calculation of income from work (and other sources) related to the received SU grant is made once a year at the official portal “SU.dk”. Income that exceeds the thresholds shall be paid back.

As the figures in the table shows, the rules allow for quite high earnings from working while still being entitled to SU grant. A student at a higher education with own residence and receiving a SU grant in all 12 months in a year is allowed to earn up to 19.799 DKK by work or other sources per month without reduction in SU grants received. The total income can then be up to 19.799 DKK+7.086 DKK= 26.885 DKK per month or 322.620 DKK per year. Students are obliged to report on their income from other sources and also changes in these incomes at the official website “SU.dk”.

To be entitled to SU grants, students must also meet requirements about being actively studying and complete the required courses at the required point in time. In practice students must therefore consider how many hours per week or month it is appropriate and feasible to work without risking to lose the right to SU grants because of being insufficiently participating in the education.

But they shall also participate actively in the education to be entitled to student grants

For youth educations, it is the specific education site that decides if the student fulfills the requirement of being actively participating. At higher education it is the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science that decides and monitors this area. The criteria here is whether the student has completed the required course modules at the required point in time.

More specific the decision is based on how many ETC points the student has earned compared with how many months of SU grant has been provided. ETC is an abbreviation for European Credit Transfer System and is the system in place for higher educations throughout the EU. Students are allocated a specific number of ECTS points, for each module they complete successfully. So the criteria in place is objective and the same for all students whereas the assessment at youth education is more individual and subjective. If it is assessed that a student does not participate actively in the education, he will no longer be entitled to SU grants and loans. 

Student loans

All students who receive SU grants can get an SU loan. You decide yourself how many months and the receivable amount per month. There is a maximum of 3.625 DKK that can be borrowed per month.
Moreover it is possible to obtain a so-called completion loan. This is relevant if you don’t have more SU left in the last 12 months of your education. The maximum receivable amount here is 9.352 DKK per month.

Paying back the debt from the loan begins in the years after the education is completed, but interest accrual starts when the loan is created. The interest rate on SU loans is 4,0% during the study period. After the education is finished, the applied interest rate is set by the official discount rate in each year plus 1 pct point. In the current year where the discount rate is 2,6 % this means an applied interest rate of 3,6%. Interest payments can be deducted to taxable income.

The State Educational Support for Adults scheme (“SVU”)

This scheme is intended towards those active in the Danish workforce, who wish to participate in supplementary or further education. For expatriates the eligible criteria is the same as for SU grants.

The scheme is primarily aimed at workers with shorter education. The scheme offers applicants the opportunity to receive an income, while being away from work, while participating in specific types of education. To be eligible the worker must have been working for their current employer for at least 6 months and be at least 25 years old. The receivable amount per week depends on the type education:

• Introducing adult educations: The receivable amount is 4.865 DKK per week.
• Educations at primary or secondary level: The rate is 3.892 DKK per week.
• Higher educationa: The rate is 2.919 DKK per week.

Students can get a SVU grant for a maximum of 40 weeks. Official website for SVU.

There are no tuition fees for Danish and EU/EEA students at higher educations in Denmark

At secondary and higher educations, tuition is free for Danish students and for EU/EEA students as well as for students participating in an exchange programme. All other students have to pay a tuition fee when participating in higher education. The fees can range between about 8.000 Euro and 18.000 Euro a year, depending on the programme.

At the European level, tuition is free at higher educations in all of Scandinavia countries, Germany, Greece and Cyprus. The remaining European countries have tuition fees ranging from as little as 150 DKK to as much as 80.000 DKK in England.

Regarding adult or further education there are tuition fees to be paid for all students at Academy, Diploma and MBA programmes offered by public educational sites in Denmark.

Student grants and other types of public financial support in Denmark are the most generous in the EU

Danish students get by far the highest grants in Europe. This is particularly the case for students at higher education and living at their own residence. These students receive 7.086 DKK per month in SU grants. In Norway they receive 2.876 DKK on average per month and in Sweden the average is 1.826 DKK per month. Student grant amounts in nordic countries.

Grants are only made universal in Denmark and 5 other EU countries. In the remaining 21 countries, grants depend on individual needs and personal financial circumstances. 

According to Eurostat the level of financial aid for upper secondary education per year averaged 566 EURO per pupil across the EU countries in 2021. It peaked at 2.149 EURO per pupil on a yearly basis in Denmark. For tertiary education, the level of financial aid averaged 1.820 EURO per student across the EU. The highest average was again observed in Denmark at 8.631 EURO per student per year. The second highest is Ireland at around 5.700 EURO per student. 

Countries generally provided higher levels of aid to students at higher educations than to students at secondary (youth) and adult educations. The figures from Eurostat include financial aid in the form of loans as well as grants. Importantly here is that SU grants in Denmark on average constitute around 80% of the total financial aid for students and loans make up the remaining 20%. In countries like Norway, Sweden and Netherlands, loans – which are financially less attractive for students than grants –  constitute more than 50% of total aid provided. For many other EU countries there are only grants and so loans are not provided. But the level of financial student aid provided is much lower in these countries. Data and statistics from Eurostat about financial aid for students in EU countries.

No tuition fees in Denmark. In many other countries tuition fees are a significant cost for students.

There are no tuition fees in Denmark for youth and higher education. In most other EU and OECD countries there are tuition fees – at varying levels. This expense can be a heavy financial burden for students in some countries at some types of education.

In the USA the average tuition fee for masters education was 12.596 USD per year as of 2023. At bachelors programmes it was 9.596 USD. In England tuition fees at bachelor programmes is 13.135 USD on average. The average fees range from around 4.500 USD to 6.000 USD per year in countries such as Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Lithuania and New Zealand. Statistics about tuition fees in OECD countries.

Students in Denmark also have access to other types of public financial support

When assessing how financially attractive it is to study in a certain country and comparing among countries, some other types of public financial support should also be considered. In the case of Denmark there are some general welfare benefits that are  not specifically targeted at students but also available for students. And for expatriates who fulfill the requirements of the schemes.  

Relevant here is the Danish rent subsidy which students living in rented apartments are entitled to. The subsidy can in practice be a quite significant boost to the monthly budget for a student.

After graduating, students in Denmark are entitled to unemployment insurance payments, if they do not have a job right after completing the studys. The amount to receive here is 15.081 DKK for the first 3 months and 10.371 DKK after the first 3 months of unemployment for a single person under the age of 30. These welfare benefits are financially very generous for students in Denmark compared to those of other western countries.

Public spending on education in Denmark is at the top among EU countries

Also when looking at overall public spending on education, Denmark is among the top with 6,4 % of GDP spent on education as of 2021. This is the second highest among EU countries with an EU average at 4,8%. Besides financial aid to students, public education spending includes the costs of operating the education sites and providing the educations. So this key figure indicates the degree to which public provided education is prioritized by the government and also the quality of the provided educations. The Scandinavian countries are at the top here, reflecting the well developed welfare states – and also the relatively high level of taxes –  in these countries. These findings are summarized in the table below.

Table: Financial aid for students and public spending on education – Danmark and EU compared.

Source: Data from Eurostat as of 2021. Data and statistics from Eurostat about financial aid for students in EU countries.

Note: The number in brackets are Denmarks ranking among EU countries on the specific statistic.

Conclusion

The danish student grants scheme is the most generous in the EU from the financial perspective of students. Expatriates who want to study in Denmark can also be entitled to SU, when they meet some additional requirements. These requirements and how to apply are described in the article.

The amount to receive per month depends on whether the education is a youth education or a higher education and also on whether you live at your own residence or not. Students in Denmark are allowed to earn a quite high income from work while studying. But there are also certain requirements about being actively participating in the studies and completing the course modules at the right time. So the student must consider how many hours it is feasible to work per month, while still being actively studying without risking to lose the right to SU grants.

The grant amounts for students in Denmark are by far the highest in the EU. Furthermore there are no tuition fees at youth and higher educations in Denmark. In most OECD countries there are tuition fees at varying levels. They can be a heavy financial burden for students in these countries. Moreover there are some general welfare benefits in Denmark that are not targeted at students but still available for students also. This includes rent subsidy for students living in rented apartments and generous unemployment insurance in the period after graduating. In this overall picture, studying in Denmark is very attractive from a financial perspective.

The educations offered by the state is also at quite high quality standards. This is reflected in statistics about how much the government spends on education in Denmark as a share of GDP.  Denmark has the second highest public spending on education among EU countries.

Steen Andersen

Content writer - specialized in the areas business, finance and working in Denmark.

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