Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has formulated and circulated to all Member Banks including State Bank of India (SBI) a ‘Model Education Loan Scheme’ for providing financial support to meritorious students for pursuing higher education in India and abroad. Salient features of the Scheme inter-alia include;
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- Loan upto Rs 10 lakh for study in India and upto Rs 20 lakh for studyabroad.
- Collateral free loans upto Rs 7.5 Lakh under the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans (CGFSEL).
- No Margin for loan up to Rs 7.50Lakh.
- Repayment period of 15years
- One Year Moratorium for repayment after completion of studies in allcases,
- Moratorium taking into account spells of unemployment/under-employment, say two or three times during the life cycle of theloan
- Moratorium for the incubation period if the student wants to take up a start-up venture aftergraduation.
The IBA scheme provides broad guidelines to the banks to operationalise the Educational Loan Scheme. However, the implementing banks may vary their products as may be required.
As per IBA Model Scheme, approved courses leading to Graduate/Post-Graduate Degree and P G Diploma conducted by Colleges/Universities recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), etc. are eligible for educationloan.
SBI and other Nationalised Banks are granting education loan for Post-Graduation Diploma Courses conducted by the colleges and approved by AICTE without any discrimination.
This was stated by the Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
