Education Loan, Depend Less On Parents

The ease, convenience and financial sense is driving more students to opt for an education loan than solely depend on parents to fund them.

- Himali Patel

Let me tell you a story about a girl who stood up against all odds life threw at her. Meet Pooja Sunil Ghorpade, whose story is a tough one and will give you an accurate understanding of all aspects of an education loan. Having lost both her parents at a young age, she has had to fend for herself.

Her desire to invest in herself made her to take the valiant decision of pursuing a PG diploma in Clinical Research and Business Management. The fee she had to cough up for this one year course was a lot more than what she could afford. She tried her luck at getting financial help from her near and dear ones, but could not succeed. It was during these attempts that a friend advised her to consider taking an education loan.

At that point in time, taking a loan seemed like a challenge to her. Her visits to banks so far has strictly been limited to opening an account, depositing or withdrawing cash. This was going to be the first time when she would be taking a loan. After doing a quick research on what banks look for and what they offer, she decided to go for Bank of Baroda’s education loan. The particular scheme that she opted for was one for girls and had a favourable repayment schedule.

“I applied for the required loan at 11 per cent interest rate for a period of five years,” she points out. In order for the bank to issue a loan, one has to secure a seat in the institution where one intends to study. “I had to pay a big noticeable amount as admission fee, which I borrowed from my cousin with a promise that I would repay him this as soon as I received the loan,” she recalls.

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