Funding Higher Education in a Foreign Country

Studying in a foreign country is every student’s dream. Funding from Education loans go a long way in providing for foreign studies.

For students belonging to middle-class families, apart from scholarships, the grade-based financial aids are available for scholarly aspirants.

The cost of education has increased manifolds over the past decade. This has made it difficult for the mid-income families to fund their children’s higher education.

Since it is a major financial step, clear goals should be set in terms of selecting the college and course. Also, when it comes to finding the right education loan.

When is the right time to start planning?

As a student, one should start planning for higher studies as per personal preferences soon after secondary examination.

Also, talk to your parents about the budget they can allocate to your higher studies and look for foreign institutes that fall in your budget.

Parents also need to make proper financial goals about funding their child’s dream of studying in a foreign institution.

The sooner you start planning, the better it is. Ideally, you should save a certain amount every month towards your kid’s education fund.

However, if you have not taken that step soon enough, you can start it when your kid goes to higher secondary school.

How to plan funding

It is important to understand your kid’s preferences and the colleges he wants to go to. Do your research about the fees of the course that he wants to opt in for.

In addition to the tuition fee, the cost of living in a foreign country should also be taken into consideration.

How to go about the education loan for studies abroad

The cost of education is rising and the value of Indian rupee is weak against the currency of other developed nations. Foreign education loan in this case will be a high-value loan.

Both public sector and private sector banks offer loans for overseas education at highly attractive rates of interest. The eligibility criteria and approval process are comparatively stringent in case of banks.

This is the reason several non-banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs) have stepped into the lending arena to offer education loans at easier terms and conditions. Although, it comes with slight higher rates of interest.

Here are some banks that offer loan amount above Rs. 7.5 Lakhs-

• State Bank of India

• Punjab National Bank

• HDFC Credila

• Federal Bank

• Axis Bank

• Union Bank of India

• Canara Bank

• Indian Overseas Bank

These are the public sector and private banks offering education loans for higher studies. Avanse and Auxillo are the top two NBFCs offering education loans for studies abroad.

Student loan at Avanse start at an interest rate of 11.50% while at Auxillo the rate is charged as a spread over its base rate which is 12.70%.

At the time of granting the loan, banks estimate your employability in the future. On that basis, they either approve or reject the loan.

Your eligibility for the loan will depend on a lot of factors. This includes income of the borrower, confirmed admission in a foreign institute, etc.

Funding education in a foreign country is a major financial decision for a mid-income family in India.

Hence, every step should be taken carefully and with extensive research apply study loan for abroad studies.

Hope this article was helpful for you at its best. Keep looking out for more of such information.

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