Student loans in 2026: postponing payments and cancelling interest

If you have difficulty repaying your student loan, you can apply to Lånekassen to postpone payments. Interest usually continues to accrue. Cancelling interest requires a separate application with its own conditions.

What should you do if you cannot repay your student loan?

Log in to Dine sider, “Your pages”, at Lånekassen (Statens lånekasse for utdanning), the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund. This agency provides education loans and grants. Find your bill and its due date. Apply to postpone payment before that date if you cannot pay.

As of 7 October 2026, you can postpone up to 36 bills without giving a reason. Together, these amount to three years over the repayment period. Postponements must also stay within the rules on the total repayment period. See section 33 (§ 33) of Forskrift om tilbakebetaling av utdanningslån, the student loan repayment regulations⁠. See Lånekassen’s overview of debt and repayment⁠.

Postponing payment means paying later. Cancelling interest means removing interest already added to your debt, provided you meet the conditions. The two applications do different things. Neither automatically cancels your entire student loan.

Note which bills and months you need help with. Dine sider shows the instalment amount, meaning the amount on your bill, and payment information. Keep the confirmation when you apply.

If a debit is missing or has stopped, SamfunnPrep has a separate guide to AvtaleGiro payments that were not collected. Check the payment status before paying manually.

What does postponing payment cost?

An ordinary postponement normally increases your total interest costs. Interest is added during the months when you do not pay, and the repayment period becomes longer.

You can apply for bills you have already received and for future bills. You can also apply after the due date, but fees may already have been added. Any existing reminder fees are moved to the next bill you will pay. See Lånekassen’s rules on postponing payments⁠.

You can make a partial payment after postponement has been approved. This still uses one postponement.

Do you have to stop Avtalegiro yourself?

Yes. If you apply just before or after the due date, you must stop the scheduled debit yourself in your online bank. An application to postpone payment does not necessarily stop a debit already sent to the bank.

Avtalegiro is an automatic payment agreement. Check upcoming payments and which account will be charged. If you apply well in advance for future months, Lånekassen does not send bills for those months. See Lånekassen’s guidance on Avtalegiro and e-invoices⁠.

When can you have interest cancelled?

Illness, work assessment allowance or registered unemployment may qualify you for interest cancellation if you meet the income conditions. Arbeidsavklaringspenger (AAP), work assessment allowance, is a benefit from Nav, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. For these grounds, the situation must last at least three consecutive months. Low income alone is not enough. See section 38 (§ 38) of the student loan repayment regulations on Lovdata⁠, which publishes legal texts.

You apply to cancel interest already added to the loan. This application cannot stop future interest from accruing. See Lånekassen’s interest cancellation scheme⁠.

Annual income includes gross personal and capital income, rather than just the salary paid into your account. Gross means before tax. Your income affects the number of months for which interest can be cancelled. Here is a selection of the 2026 thresholds, without the increase for children:

Your income must be below the threshold for that number of months. There are separate thresholds for each number of months between the rows shown above.

You must also have an accepted ground for cancellation during the relevant period. The table therefore does not automatically give you a right to cancellation. The thresholds increase by NOK 19,458 per child you support, up to and including the year the child turns 16.

Full-time work with low income has its own conditions, including at least 12 consecutive months of work. Limits also apply to average monthly income, annual income and total family income. On this ground, you can have interest cancelled for up to 36 months in total. Voluntary unpaid work does not qualify on this ground. See all income thresholds and qualifying grounds at Lånekassen⁠.

What documentation do you need?

The documentation depends on why you are applying. The application tells you what, if anything, you need to send, and you can upload attachments after submitting it.

For unemployment, AAP or education in Norway, you normally do not need to send documentation. Your unemployment must be registered with Nav. If you live abroad, however, you must send documentation from the employment service, social security agency or educational institution there.

For illness, a medical certificate or sick note must confirm that you were ill and unable to work. For full-time work with low income, your employer must confirm the period of work and gross monthly income. Self-employed people must document their business and that the work was actually full-time. See Lånekassen’s documentation requirements for interest cancellation⁠.

Make a simple overview of the periods before applying. Use the dates in the confirmations, and explain any missing information.

How do you apply after using all 36 postponements?

You can get further postponements if you demonstrate that you are likely to qualify for interest cancellation for the same period. The order matters:

1. Submit an application for interest cancellation.
2. Then submit an application to postpone payments for the period.
3. Check the responses and any documentation requests on Dine sider.

You do not need to wait for a response to the first application before sending the second. See Lånekassen’s procedure when you have used all your postponements⁠.

For periods when interest cancellation is approved, postponements do not count towards your ordinary allowance. Postponements you have already used for the period are removed from the count when cancellation is approved. This is explained in the scheme for interest cancellation and extra postponements⁠.

How far back can you apply, and when will you get a decision?

You can apply for interest cancellation up to three years back. If you apply during 2026, your application can cover interest back to 1 January 2023. See Lånekassen’s application deadline for interest cancellation⁠.

You may first receive a preliminary decision on the ground for cancellation, such as illness. The final decision comes after Lånekassen has information about your income for the calendar year. An application covering 2026 therefore normally receives no final decision until summer or autumn 2027.

Read the preliminary decision carefully. It does not necessarily mean your income has been finally approved. If you qualify for cancellation, interest added to the interest being cancelled is also removed. See Lånekassen’s explanation of applications and processing times⁠.

What should you do about reminders or lasting payment difficulties?

Get in touch and look into payment relief even if you have received a reminder. If the loan agreement is terminated, Innkrevingsmyndigheten i Skatteetaten, the Norwegian Tax Administration’s collection authority, takes over collection. Late-payment interest then accrues on the whole loan.

While you still have rights with Lånekassen, you can check whether payment relief can resolve the matter. A permanent transfer may cause you to lose your rights with Lånekassen. Get in touch if you receive notice of this. See Lånekassen’s advice when your loan has been transferred to the collection authority⁠.

If the problems continue, ask your municipality for financial counselling. The service is free and can help with a budget and possible solutions. See Lånekassen’s guidance on lasting payment difficulties⁠.

If you plan to study again, there is a separate overview of higher education and Lånekassen. You can also use SamfunnPrep’s practical tools to find resources for everyday life in Norway.