How to secure a study loan as an international student
To secure a study loan as an international student, you first need to identify a financial institution that gives study loans to students, check their study loan requirements, then apply if you meet them (their requirements) by submitting needed documents and information of you. This method of securing loan is also valid for national students.
It\’s obvious that zeal is not enough to fulfill your dream of studying abroad; money is needed to make it happen.
But what if you have the zeal and capacity to study abroad but not enough funds to do so; will you now dash your dreams of studying abroad?
The answer is no. There are actually many paths you can follow to actualise your dream of studying abroad.
A common way of doing this is through scholarships. However, this route is competitive and cannot work for everyone. This is just the bitter truth. Not every international student who seek scholarship to enable him study abroad will be offered one.
Please note, we are not praying that you, in particular, don\’t succeed in securing a scholarship to study abroad. Far from it, we are just stating the obvious.
As beautiful as securing a scholarship by international students to study abroad is, failure to secure it shouldn\’t actually prevent them from pursing their studies abroad. There are other ways to go about it.
One of these, which is easier, is through study loan. Study loan for international students is a great alternative for students seeking to study in foreign countries but do not have enough money to do so and cannot secure a scholarship.
In this article, we enlisted reputable financial institutions that give foreign students loan to enable them study abroad.
What is study loan
Study loan is a repayable financial assistance given exclusively to students for their studies. Study loan exist to enable determined students to fund their dreams of studying.
It comes with interest which varies according to different financial institutions. In addition, their repayment time, and method also varies among different institutions offering study loans.
Who can get a study loan?
Every student can apply and get a study loan provided that they meet the loan requirements. Study loan requirements varies across different institutions offering it. For this reason, we would expect that you check for the requirements in the institution where you want to apply for a study loan.
How to get a study loan
Getting a study loan start from making application for it. But before then, you need to have selected the best financial institution that is suitable for your needs.
In summary, these are steps to get a study loan:
- Apply for a study
- Provide the needed information requested by the loan institution
- Provide payment method (where it is not paid directly to the school that offered you admission).
- Get the loan disbursed into the provided payment method
Requirements for a study
Study loan requirements varies across different financial institutions that offer them. In general, these are common requirements for a study loan:
- Good credit score
- Admission letter or proof that you\’re a student
- Your residential address
- Your biodata
Financial institutions that offer study loan
The following are financial institutions that offer study loan both to national and international students:
- Mpower
- Stilt Finance loan for immigrants & under-served
- Prodigy finance
- Global student loan corporation
- Lend wise student loans
- Future finance
- Access bank student loan
- EdFin Microfinance Bank
- GMB MFB Education loan
- Education advisory service (EAS)
With Mpower, you can fund your dream to study abroad, using their study loan for international students.
They enable international students to study either in Canada or in the United States of America.
Their loan does need you to have a credit history.
It also does not require:
- A cosigner
- Collateral.
The minimum loan amount you can request from Mpower is $2001 while the maximum amount $100,000. You can get up to 1.5% discount in your interest.
2. Stilt Finance loan
Stilt Finance loan is for immigrants & under-served. They offer study loan to international students seeking to fund their goal of studying in foreign universities.
Stilt Finance loan requires credit history but does not require:
- a cosigner and
- prepayment fees
Their loan come with low interest rate and a flexible repayment plan.
3. Prodigy finance
Prodigy finance provides study loan to international students seeking to finance their dream of studying abroad. Their loan comes with variable interest rates which is dependent on loan amount and repayment time.
They don\’t require the following:
- a co-signer
- collateral or
- credit history.
4. Global student loan corporation
This organisation prioritise in helping students understand what study loan actually mean to enable them make better decisions when secured. They also help students in securing study loans, where they cannot offer it themselves.
5. Lendwise
- Lendwise website
- Loan amount: from £5,000 – £100,000
- Repayment up to 10 years after your course ends
- No early repayment fee
Lendwise offers study loans to both national and international students, to enable them sharpen their skills and augment their earnings capability. They take away burdens students would have faced, as a result of unfair and unfavourable loan terms from conventional lenders.
Lendwise provide services not only to students in need of study loans but also to lenders in the education finance sector.
6. Future finance
Another financial institution you can get study loan from us Future finance. They have a beautiful dream of making education accessible to all. This their dream was birthed by the believe they have in the potential of students.
This institution offers study loans to both national and international students studying in the UK, who are in need of funding to enable them achieve their academic goals.
- Future finance website
- Loan amount: £2,000 to £,25,000
- Study loans to students studying in the UK only
- Guarantor is required
7. Access Bank
- Access Bank website for study loan
- Loan amount: up to N5,000,000
- Repayment plan: flexible
Access bank student loan is a special loan program for students seeking to fund their academic dream.
The institution gives students loan to enable them pay their school fees, buy school students such as text books, laptop, etc.
They also have loan offer for people who owe schools and would want to renovate it, build or buy another etc.
8. EdFin Microfinance Bank
EdFin, in a bid to realise human potential, provides loan to anyone in the educational sector, including students.
EdFin Microfinance Bank solely exist to cater for the financial needs of people in the education ecosystem; geared towards achieving quality education in Nigeria and Africa at large.
As an African students who desire to study, either in your home country or abroad, EdFin can provide you with study loan to enable you find your studies.
9. GMB MFB Education loan
GMB MFB gives education loans to students in primary school, secondary school and tertiary institution, who wish to fund their educational journey. For tertiary institution students, the institution requires that they will be working to be qualified for their education loan.
- GMB MFB Education loan website
- Loan amount: any Amount provided that it\’s rational and justifiable
- No collateral is required (Term and Condition Apply)
- Flexible repayment structure
- Low interest rate
- Loan tenure: 12 months
- Required documents:
- Loan application letter
- Duly completed application form
- Guarantors (two)
- A valid means of identification
- Current utility bill and
- 2 recent passport-size photographs
GMB MFB gives study loans to students in primary school, secondary school and tertiary institution, who wish to fund their educational journey.
10. Education advisory service (EAS)
This is a joint corporation between MOD Group & Wema Bank basically birthed to offer financial support to Nigerian students seeking to study abroad.
- Education advisory service website
- Loan amount: up to N10,000,000
