Are you in need of a loan to fund your study abroad in countries like Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Paris, Belgium, Netherlands, China, Singapore and many other European and Asian countries? If yes, you may want to consider the EdFin Study Abroad Loan.
EdFin provides a no-collateral/credit history loan to students who are willing to pay back after the completion of their study program. Thankfully, the EdFin repayment terms feature very minimal interest rates which are usually between 5 – 14% per annum.
If you are interested in applying for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan, then you need to see if you have what it takes to be considered for the program. Let’s find out more about this funding program, and see if you meet the eligibility requirements to apply.
Features of EdFin Study Abroad Loan
Here are some notable features of the EdFin Study Abroad Loan to give you a better insight into what the funding is all about:
- The EdFin Study Abroad Loan offers a 20 year term loan, whereby beneficiaries can receive funds up to $100,000 throughout their academic lifetime.
- The initiative has a minimal interest rate within the range of 5 to 14% per annum. However, interest rate discounts are available to specific locations of application.
- Its principal repayment begins 6 months after graduation of beneficiaries.
- There is no penalty for prepayment; you can pay your loan off early if you wish and have the means. However, late payment may have penalties.
- Beneficiaries can choose a repayment plan that suits them within the range of 7, 10 up to 20 years.
Benefits of EdFin Study Abroad Loan
Compared to other sources of education funding, the EdFin Study Abroad Loan has the following benefits:
- Application is completely online and paperless. You do not need to visit a physical centre for your application.
- During application, interested applicants are not required to bring collateral or credit history.
- Repayment of loan principal is 6 months after graduation.
- Depending on your location, there may be an interest rate discount available to you.
- You can use the loan to build yourself a good credit score and history.
- No forex and insurance charges.
- Visa assistance letter.
Who can Apply?
As I mentioned earlier, you can only apply for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan if you meet the necessary eligibility criteria. Applicants who do not meet all requirements are not invited to apply.
To apply for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan, you must:
- Be within 2 years of graduation
- Be going for a degree seeking program (Masters, MBA, etc.)
- Be applying to attend any of EdFin’s partner schools
I’m pretty much convinced that you may be wondering what EdFin’s partner schools are. Well, these institutions are spread across Canada, U.K, U.S., China, Singapore, Paris, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, France, South Africa, India, and many other countries around the world. You can view the list of EdFin’s partner schools.
Also, like the schools, there are specific fields and courses that you must be applying for in order to receive a loan from EdFin. These fields include:
- Business
- Engineering
- Computer Science
- Law
- Policy
- Economics
- Science
- Mathematics
Of course, there are top courses in these fields that are acceptable for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan.
How to Apply
Have you checked and confirmed that you are eligible for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan? If yes, you need to find out how to apply and here, I will show you how.
To apply for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan:
- Proceed to the EdFin Study Abroad Loan website.
- Next, scroll down and select “Click here to apply”.
- Choose if you are making a new application or updating your old application.
- You will be redirected to a new page where you have to fill a pre-application form. This will require details like a short note on yourself, how you heard of EdFin, and your citizenship.
- Tap “Next” when you are done.
- On the next page, you will be asked for more information about your application including the loan amount you currently need.
- After filling out the necessary information, tap “Submit”.
- A message will be sent to your email address containing further information on your application.
- Click the link in the mail and fill out all fields with accurate data on the new page.
- Next, create your personal login details which will include your email address and password.
- Continue application and update all other fields required as required.
If your loan application is not successful, reach out to EdFin on [email protected] / +234-809-886-6334, 01-454-6334.
Supporting Documents
During your loan application, you will be asked to provide some important documents. These documents may vary with the level of education you are applying for. For example, the documents required from international undergraduates are quite different from that of graduates.
However, the basic documents are usually the same for both undergraduates and graduates. Let’s find out what they are.
Supporting documents include:
- Resume or CV
- Proof of home country address
- Standardized test scores
- English proficiency exam scores
- Admission letter
- Past transcripts and/or diploma from previous universities
- Estimated cost of attendance or program financial summary
- International passport
- Secondary photo ID from your home country
- Proof of funds
- MPOWER video and quiz
- References
There may be other documents required depending on your situation. You can check here to find out more.
FAQs on EdFin Study Abroad Loan
Who repays the loans, students or parents?
Usually, the students repay their loans as soon as they get a job and begin to receive income. However, it might be different in some cases.
Depending on the peculiarity (location and school), some students are usually asked to begin their loan interest repayment even while they are still studying. In such cases, the parents may offer to help with repayment.
Still, it is important to note that parents are not mandated to help with repayment but they can help if they choose to before the student gets a job offer.
Is there a foreign exchange risk?
Fortunately, there is no foreign exchange risk with the EdFin Study Abroad Loan. No matter the country you have come from to study, you will begin your repayment when you get a job offer in the country where you studied. For example, if you study in the UK, US, Canada, etc, you will also repay while working in any of these countries.
Would Nigerians get work and visa after completing their study?
This question does not have a straightforward answer as getting a job offer and visa after study depends on so many reasons.
To increase your chances of getting work after study, you are advised to choose courses with high potentials of getting a job. To also assist beneficiaries in this regard, partners of EdFin offer career development and immigration assistance to applicants.
Can I lower or negotiate my interest rate?
Although interest rates for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan are fixed, it is still possible to get discounts that could potentially reduce your interest rates by up to 1.5%. However, as enticing as this might seem, you should know that it is not applicable to every school that supports the program.
You can check with the school you are applying to and see if they can also benefit from the interest rate discount.
The interest rate discounts are applied as follows:
- 0.5% for signing up on auto pay
- 0.5% for making six continuous months of payments while on auto pay
- 0.5% for providing proof of graduation and employment
By adding all three up, we have a total 1.5% which will be applied to your repayment if your school is eligible.
Why do I need proof of funds?
During your application for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan, proof of funds is one of the required supporting documents which must be included in your application. You may begin to question why it is important.
The proof of funds in important for both admission and visa application processing. For the admission process, the document is able to prove that you, as the applicant, have some commitment towards your education, either by your individual support or that of family.
Also, the proof of funds is a major requirement when processing visa for travel. For countries like the United States and Canada, you will need to provide at least a 6-month bank statement with funds for living expenses after your tuition has been paid.
This is to show that you are financially capable of fending for yourself during the course of your study.
Will EdFin be responsible for the processing online?
All applications for the EdFin Study Abroad Loan are completely online and paperless. Applicants are not asked to visit any physical office to obtain application forms or submit any document.
Relationship officers will get in touch with you and help you throughout the application process. If your application is successful, the tuition fee will be disbursed directly to the school you chose.
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