Private Education Loan without Collateral - Must know basics

Education loans provide much-needed financial assistance to the majority of the students who otherwise without one couldn't further their education abroad or even in India. 

As there are two types of education loans made available to students,  collateral and non-collateral education loans, students can choose one as per their needs. Indeed there will be eligibility screening, creditworthiness check, and so forth set by lenders.

Collateral loan needs to put collateral as a security in return of the loan. But some of the students may not have enough security or collateral to take the loan against, a private education loan without collateral (non-collateral education loans) is the next best option for such students. 

Private banks and NBFCs are the two main lenders of private education loans without collateral, through which an education loan of up to 60 lakhs can be availed. These lenders do not require students to pledge any kind of security against the loan, however, the co-applicants income and credit worthiness play a crucial part in proving to be eligible to avail this kind of loan.

What does a private education loan without collateral mean?

Having a financial co-applicant is mandatory in order to get a private education loan. The co-applicant can be parents, siblings, parents-in-law, spouse, cousins are also accepted in rare cases.

Are education loans without financial co-applicant not possible?

Yes, having a financial co-applicant for an unsecured education loan is required, however, there have been instances where the students were orphans or students' parents did not want to be involved in the loan procedure.

Taking this into account, a few lenders come up with a solution by introducing loan schemes where a student can get an education loan without collateral and financial co-applicant for study abroad.

If a student fulfills the following criteria, he/she is eligible to get an education loan without a financial co-applicant from a particular bank-

• Students should have at least three years of work experience.
• The last drawn salary should be at least 35k per month
• University should be in the list of top 300 universities
• The course should be MS/MBA

It's important to remember that while you can get an education loan without a financial co-applicant, the co-applicant nonetheless is required for contact purposes. Their financial status will not impact your loan application. 

Not just this, there are other options available too, where you can get an education loan without co-applicant and collateral. Connect with our team and they will help you with the same. 

Who provides private education loans without collateral?

The private education loan in India is provided by private banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the form of non-collateralized education loans. Also, note that our team works directly with them to assist students with their education loan process and to give them certain benefits, which we'll go over later in this article. 

• Private banks are more suitable for non-collateralized education loans. Private banks have a list of universities only for which they approve non-collateral education loans. In case the university that a student has chosen doesn’t come under this particular list, then the student won’t be eligible to avail of a private education loan.

  Loan Amount Limit	Upto 40 Lakhs for PG programs Upto 25 lakhs for UG programs
  Rate of Interest	10.5% to 12.5%
  Processing fee	1% of the loan amount + GST OR For some banks- 15K + GST
  Moratorium Period	Course duration + 6 months

• NBFCs are Non-Banking Financial Companies in India that provide non-collateral education loans to students. The NBFCs operating primarily in the education loan segment in India are Avanse, Incred, HDFC Credila, and Auxilo. We at WeMakeScholars work with all the above NBFCs except Credila due to certain reasons. 

There are certain benefits you can avail of when you apply to NBFCs v   b ia WeMakeScholars, rather than applying on your own. One such benefit is an instant 0.5% reduction in the interest rate on your education loan from the market rate which can be further negotiated down if possible.

The amount and Interest rates offered by NBFCs depend on the country that the student has applied to. Refer to the following table to know which country is eligible for what amount of loan.

Who is eligible for private education loans without collateral?

The profile of every student is thoroughly evaluated by the lenders before approving the education loan without collateral. Not every student is eligible, various factors that are evaluated can be clearly understood from the points below:

• Students' Academics - The students' previous academic background i.e grades, GAP (if any) are thoroughly checked by the banks in order to qualify for an unsecured loan. The students must have at least 60% - 10th onwards and no more than 3 backlogs in graduation.
• Competitive exam Result- Relevant  IELTS, TOEFL, and other language test scores are also required by countries like the USA, Canada, etc

In case a student is opting for a course in the USA, then his/her GRE score acts as of great importance for the banks. Any GRE score above 300 is taken under priority by the private banks and NBFCs.

Due to the pandemic last year, many universities in the US waived off the GRE requirement for admission. Students interested in knowing how to get a non-collateral education from NBFCs without a GRE score can read this article - Without GRE Unsecured Loan for the US.

• The Co-Applicant’s profile - The Co-applicant's financial status like their Income, Income-Tax Return (ITR) of the last two years, CIBIL score of 685 are strongly considered.
• The preferred course/degree - Chances of loan approval increase if the preferred course belongs to one of the STEM subjects or is job-oriented. It is next to impossible to get a non-collateral education loan for courses like Ph.D., Mbbs, Theology, tailoring, etc.
• The preferred country - Major overseas destinations like the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany have higher approval rates for private education loans as the student is more likely to get hired there 
• The University -In order to be eligible to get a loan from private banks, the university must come under the designated list of universities of that respective bank. For NBFCs, the university has to be top and renowned.
• Age: Age criteria are also an important factor that the banks take into consideration. An applicant of age 27 or more years will find it hard to get a private education loan. 

Advantages of applying for private education loan without collateral through WeMakeScholars

There are certain benefits you get when you apply for a private education loan without collateral through WeMakeScholars. They are listed below:

• A lower rate of interest: As WeMakeScholars is associated directly with the head office of these lenders, you get at least a 0.5% reduction in the rate of interest. Hence you get the best rate in the market.
• Deviations possible: Lenders usually tend to avoid risks by rejecting a case that has deviation. The WeMakeScholars team will negotiate with the head office of the lender on your behalf, whenever any deviations are hindering the sanction of your education loan.
• Best customer support: With qualified financial officers assigned to each one of you, the WeMakeScholars team tries to answer each and every query either you or your parents might have related to the education loan process. And also you get genuine and transparency in terms and conditions of NBFCs and private banks. 
• Cashback: Post-sanction, you will be rewarded with a cashback on multiple disbursements to a maximum of INR 3000, as you are supporting the Digital India campaign by applying for your study abroad education loan via WeMakeScholars.
• Low processing time: If applied via WeMakeScholars, the time taken for the education loan application to be sanctioned at NBFCs is just 5 to 7 working days once all the required documents are submitted.

Unsecured loans have been proven to be the go-to option for students who cannot pledge collateral as it is a quick and easy process that doesn't involve many documents. It has its own pros and cons which you should be aware of before applying for one.

We suggest you request a callback on the website of WeMakeScholars to ensure maximum benefit and negotiation support on your education loan.