Educational Loan -I
By US Singh *
Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.
—John Barrymore
So far, we have looked at various scholarships, fellowships, freeships, etc that are being extended to meritorious students by numerous funding agencies, both private and public enterprises.
As we have discussed earlier, financial constraint should be no more a problem to any deserving student who wish to pursue higher studies in their chosen field. Besides scholarships, fellowships, freeships, etc, they can also avail various educational loans which are being offered by banks and other financial institutions. One should, however, keep in mind that these loan benefits should be repaid within the prescribed timeframe.
Starting from today, let us understand some of these educational loans.
Educational Loan of Allahabad Bank
Any deserving students can avail of this attractive educational loan if he or she have secured admission to or are already studying in any of the country’s IIMs or IITs or in any of the designated institutes.
As stated, to be eligible for this educational loan, the candidate should fulfil certain criteria like securing admission or already studying in any IIM; IIT; Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai, XLRI, Jamshedpur; Roorkee Engineering College or India School of Mines, Dhanbad.
The loan will be in the form of a package which will cover the entire tuition fee, hostel and mess charges, library fees or any other fees/charges payable to the institution subject to a maximum of Rs 2.50 lakh.
The loan is repayable in 48 Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI). The EMI will commence one year after the completion of the course. The interest, however, will be released during the pendency of the loan on a quarterly basis. The tenure of the loan is maximum of 12 months to a minimum of 48 months.
Educational Loan of Andhra Bank
The maximum amount of the educational loan that a student can avail from Andhra Bank in India is Rs 1,00,000 while the maximum amount in overseas is upto Rs 5,00,000.
The applicants should submit all the required documents like the bank documents and academic records.
The rate of the interest payable for availing the loan in India is 12 percent and 13.5 percent per annum overseas. Collateral and Third Party Guarantee are required for availing this educational loan and the tenure of the loan is upto 5 years.
The applicants should have secured Ist class marks in the previous examinations and must have been selected for professional course. So they can apply only after getting admission in college or institution. The loan process normally takes one week.
Repayment will have to start one year after completion of the course or three months after getting a job, whichever is earlier.
Educational Loan of Bank of Baroda
The educational loan offered by the Bank of Baroda is for a period of 5 years and it is for the purpose of taking care of tuition fees, library/Other institution charges, hostel/Mess charges and travel expenses abroad (one way only).
For studies in India, the maximum loan amount that could be availed is upto Rs 5,50,000 and for studies abroad, it is upto Rs 1.5 million. The interest rate, however, depends on the loan amount with maximum of 13.77 percent. The margin required is upto a maximum of 15 percent depending on the loan amount and in case of studies abroad, it is 20 percent of the loan amount.
The loan amount is to be repaid starting from 6 months after course completion or one year after getting a job.
Educational Loan of Bank of India
Under its Vidya Vardhini Scheme, Bank of India extends educational loan to the deserving students for pursuit of studies in India and abroad.
Approved courses where the loan is applicable include graduate and post-graduate courses in engineering, computer technology, medicine, etc, all vocational courses/job oriented diploma course which are recognised by the Government and universities as well as similar courses pursued in universities abroad. Full-time post-graduate research in any of the aforesaid subjects are also applicable for available the loan.
To be eligible for the loan, the candidate should be a citizen of India and should have a good academic record. For vocational training courses and job oriented courses, age of the individual should be between 15 to 28 years and 18 to 30 years in case of post-graduate courses and/or studies abroad.
Moreover, for studies abroad, the candidate should have secured admission in a particular university after having appeared in the specific entrance examinations. The applicants should have secured a minimum of 50 percent marks in the major subject. In case of SC/ST candidates, these eligibility norms, however, may be relaxed.
The loan amount could vary depending on the specific subject requirement. But, normally, it is upto Rs 15 lakhs for studies abroad and upto Rs 7.5 lakhs for studies in India.
Repayment of the loan amount will have to start within 15 years from the first date of disbursement, including the moratorium period.
* Human Capital, e-mail: hucapital@gmail.com