Students attempted to swindle close to 36 million kroner in off campus housing and living allotments in 2016, according to the Loan Fund.
In 2017, the Loan Fund checked the housing status of 43,000 students who had stated to live off campus.
Of these there were 2,321 students who could not prove that they did not live with their parents or guardians and thus they were not able to change their loans to a housing grants.
Development Director of the Loan Fund, Kristine Eilertsen, believes such fraud attempts are an abuse of society’s welfare goods.
“It’s important that society’s welfare systems are not misused, and student support should go to those who are entitled to it,” she said to Universitas.
Eilertsen says that cheating on grants can have major consequences. Falsifying documentation risks a police report. However, no such cases were revealed during last year’s control.
Every year, the Loan Fund carries out what they call book checks to check if students who have given a street address, actually live away. The percentage of students who are exposed annually is approximately 4-5 percent.
“Most students are honest, and we are very happy,” says Eilertsen.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today