The National Board of Appeal for Student Aid is a government authority whose main task is to examine appeals against decisions by the Swedish Board of Student Finance (CSN) on granting and reclaiming student finance.
The activities of the authority are regulated by the Student Aid Act (1999:1395), the Student Aid Ordinance (2000:655) and the Ordinance (2007:1348) with instructions for the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid.
The authority’s website contains information on the authority, what decisions may be appealed and how to appeal a decision. The website also provides guideline decisions which have been made by the Board of Appeal and information on how to contact the authority.
About the authority
The office of the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid, which currently has about 20 employees and is located in Härnosand, is responsible for the preparation and hearing of cases.
The National Board of Appeal for Student Aid processes about 6,000 cases each year. There is a special decision-making body at the authority, the Board of Appeal, which decides on important cases of principle. Most of these cases are decided by the director of the authority or the deputy director.
The National Board of Appeal for Student Aid has the task of hearing appeals against decisions by CSN on granting or reclaiming student finance.
The National Board of Appeal for Student Aid is the highest instance in these cases, and thus it is not possible to appeal against decisions by the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid.
The special decision-making body convenes about eight times each year and consists of the director of the authority, a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and five other members. The director of the authority, the chairperson and the vice-chairperson are permanent judges. Of the other members, two are lawyers, two are experts on students’ conditions and one has specialist knowledge of the educational system. There are also deputies for the members.
Appeals
Who may appeal?
A decision may only be appealed by the person concerned, a representative of the person, or in certain cases a guardian. Another prerequisite is that the decision has gone against the person.
What may be appealed?
One further prerequisite is that there is a decision which can be appealed. For example, it is not possible to appeal against
- a message of information sent out by CSN before a decision is made,
- the opinion of CSN regarding claims for damages, or
- issues relating to repayment, period of grace for payment and similar matters.In this context it should also be mentioned that the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid has made clear through practice that it is not possible to make decisions on suspension of reclaim cases.
Not all decisions made by CSN may be appealed to the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid. Decisions on cases concerning ordinary repayment of study loans may be appealed to the administrative law department.
An appeal must be in writing and must state which decision is being appealed and in what way the appellant wishes the decision to be changed.
The appeal should also include:
• date of the decision
• name
• civic registration number
• address
• telephone number
• mobile telephone number
• e-mail address
Any appendices such as testimonials, certificates or other documents cited should be enclosed with the appeal. Any documents which are already possessed by CSN do not need to be re-submitted.
If the appellant is a minor, the name and address of his/her representative must be stated in the appeal. If a person of age engages a representative, a power of attorney must be prepared for the representative.
An appeal must be sent to CSN within three weeks of the day on which the student received the decision.
The appeal is posted to:
CSN
Box 488
631 06 Eskilstuna
When the appeal is received, CSN must quickly decide whether there is any reason to change the decision in accordance with the regulations in the administration law. If CSN does not change the decision, the appeal is sent to the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid together with the case documents.
Processing of the case by the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid
When an appeal is received by the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid from CSN, it is registered and authority officials process it. The appellant is informed that the appeal has been received by the authority and is given contact information. Sometimes an opinion is sent with the case in which CSN presents their point of view on the appeal. Such an opinion is always sent to appellants to give them an opportunity to submit their viewpoints on the opinion of CSN before the National Board of Appeal for Student Aid makes a decision on the case.The appellant may send a letter or e-mail to the Board describing his/her point of view.
Decisions in these cases are either made by the director of the authority or the deputy director, or at a board meeting.
When a decision has been made in a case, it is sent to the appellant and a copy is sent to CSN in order that measures may be taken on the basis of the decision.