7 Essential Guidelines to Follow as You Apply for Student Loans

A Global education is an enriching experience that adds immense value to the university years of a student – not only in intellectual and academic terms, but also in terms of the a holistic experience of living in another country and interacting with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

This experience, however, can be out of reach for many, since higher education comes at a cost. It’s not an insurmountable problem though, because there are avenues that can be explored to fund this education. Education loans is one of them. Most of these cover fees like tuition, health insurance and transportation, apart from covering accommodation and living costs. Once the loan is cleared, the bank actually remits the money directly to the university account at the start of each year or semester.

Here goes..

1. Find out the eligibility first First things first, you need to understand if you’re eligible for a loan. Eligibility criteria differ across banks. Once you check your eligibility criteria, start by short listing the banks and the various courses/programmes covered by them. Most banks exclude English language and other short term and vocational courses from their eligibility criteria for granting student loans.
2. Apply earlyOnce you receive the admission letter from a university, start applying for a student loan immediately, after researching the various loan options. You want to do this as soon as possible, because the processing takes a while.
3. Interest rates matterCompare interest rates offered by various banks and other loan providers well in advance. Rates differ across lending institutions, so comparing rates would help you to pick up the cheaper loan. State run banks generally offer lower interest education loans when compared to private banks
4. Get your documents togetherOnce you’ve shortlisted the banks, you’ll need to get the required documents list from them. All the papers and necessary documents should be kept ready before the final application. Universities also, at times, tend to have tie-ups with some banks. Check out if the university you’ve have applied for has any such tie-up with banks back home. This would speed up the whole processing and dispersal of the loan considerably. If there is such a tie-up, start the loan application process with that particular bank only, to help things get cleared easily and in a faster manner.
5. The list of documents you’ll needMost banks or lending institutions require a standard set of documents like the following:
   • Identity proof – one of:
     • Pan card
     • Passport
     • Driving license
     • Signed verification letter from a recognized public servant or public authority or
     • Voter’s identity card
   • Address proof – one of:
     • Telephone or electricity or water bill
     • Voter’s identity card
     • Aadhar card
     • Bank account statement
     • Passport
     • Government issued allotment letter
   • Academic Marksheets: 10th Result and 12th Result
   • Graduation Result: Semester-wise (where applicable)
   • Entrance Exam Result (GMAT, GRE, TOEFL or IELTS) – Exam by which admission secured
   • Proof of admission: Admission Letter from the University
   • Statement of Study Expenses
   • 2 passport-size photographs
     
   • Any previous loans – If you’ve taken any previous bank/lender loans, then such Loan A/C statement for the past 1 year
6. After sanctioning – remember devil is in the details Once the student loan has been sanctioned, before you shout from the rooftops, read the fine-print carefully, especially regarding pre-payment details, interest structure and an option to extend repayment of loan, in case of delay in finding employment. Understand all the listed clauses carefully and have clarity on the entire loan process.
7. Start thinking about repayment alreadyOne last point to remember is that you need to think about repayment soon. If you can get hold of a part-time job, try and start repaying the interest amount each month, to ensure it does not end up as a big sum later – loans are easy to take, hard to repay. This ensures that you reduce your burden gradually.

Going to study abroad is an exciting time in a student’s life. But you need to follow the steps which will get you to your dream destination, and you need to plan well. Follow the above essential guidelines when you apply for an educational loan.

TC Global aims to help students achieve their global ed dreams, so feel free to reach out and connect with us. We are here to guide you through your journey, be it loans, visas, or choice of courses and universities – because we believe in a borderless world and we’re here to help you become the global citizen you’ve set out to be.