HOW TO GET EDUCATION LOAN FOR STUDYING IN AUSTRALIA?

When one thinks of higher studies abroad, countries like US, UK or Canada come to one’s mind. And while they still remain one of the most preferred destinations among Indian students, increasing number of students are now looking down south to countries like Australia.

For beginners, Australia is an island continent consisting of thousands of miles of arid landmass flanked by narrow swathes of habitable coastline in the east. Accidentally discovered by Dutch sailor Willem Janszoon in 1606, it was claimed for British crown by British explorer and naval officer, Captain James Cook in 1770. It is situated below Indonesia and located south-West of the Indian Ocean. It is a sparsely populated but developed country consisting mostly of descendants of British and European colonists and the aboriginal people (the original inhabitants of Australia). It was a former British colony and hence, a member of British Commonwealth. Its currency is Australian Dollar (1 AUD = Rs. 48.67 as on 15^th May 2019. Source: www.xe.com).

Being a developed country, Australia offers alternative to Indian students seeking quality higher education abroad. Its higher education sector comprises of colleges and universities offering both technical and non-technical courses at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. As per Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), 4 Australian universities namely, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of Queensland and Australian National University featured in CWUR’s 2018-19 list of ‘Top 100 universities in the World’.

As in case of US and UK, getting education loan to study in Australia requires a student to get admission to a course in any of the government recognized universities or colleges in the country.

HOW TO GET EDUCATION LOAN FOR STUDYING IN AUSTRALIA?

In this blog, Student Cover provides you with step-by-step guide to get education loan to finance your higher education in Australia.

STEP 1: SOUND RESEARCH OF UNIVERSITY AND COURSE

Research the institution

One can begin by searching on the net about the different courses offered by various colleges and universities in Australia. Those who are not familiar with higher education in that country, are advised to start early as it takes time finalize the college or university. As mentioned earlier, the quality of education is good in Australia. However, that doesn’t mean that all colleges and universities offer same quality education throughout the island continent. A student must go through each university separately, find out about the faculty, its national and global ranking, specialization, etc. before finalizing the institution.

Finalize the course and its subjects

Although one of the important factors of finalizing the University is the availability and the quality of the desired course program, but choosing the right subjects within the course would also be a big influencer in making one’s career. Course program is also chosen on the basis of affordability in terms of course fees. So, one should also note that while lending money for higher education, most banks & Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) give preference to those courses which have the potential to get student a well-paying job.

Courses that fall in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) category have higher employment prospects than those which fall under arts and humanities. However, one should note that these courses are also costlier than those falling under arts and humanities stream. A student should go through the course fee of each before deciding which one to choose.

Fulfill the admission requirements

Being a British Commonwealth, the official language of Australia is English. Barring few courses, all major courses are taught in English. Students from non-English speaking countries like India are required to provide proof of their fluency in the language in order to get admission to a course. Students can meet this requirement by taking IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam. Applicants are also required to show proof of 12 years of regular schooling. Preference is given to those who studied in English medium schools. If a student wants to apply for a post graduate course, he or she should have a graduate degree from a recognized university in India or abroad.

STEP 2: APPLY FOR ADMISSION

Once everything has been sorted out, a student can formally apply for admission to the course. Indian students can apply online to the course through university website or its online application portal. They require a student to register with the website and create a user ID. A student can apply using this ID. To complete the application process, one has to do the following:

 Fill Admission form

Admission forms seek detailed information about the student. They can be filled and submitted online. The details sought include personal information such as father’s or mother’s name, date of birth, address, gender, marital status etc. It also seeks information about one’s educational qualification, IELTS score, work experience details (if any), projects undertaken etc. A student must provide information which can be supported by documents.

Furnishing wrongful or misleading information could lead to disqualification. Similar to US, universities in Australia also have a strict policy against any form of liaising or seeking undue favor from officials, including faculty members, to influence the admission process. A student found doing that stands disqualified, his or her application rejected, and the student barred from applying in future.

SOP (Statement of Purpose) & LORs (Letters of Recommendation)

SOP – The Statement of Purpose is a self-evaluating and future oriented essay of about 1000 words. Students, though SOPs, are expected to highlight their academic and professional background and justify how the course that they have applied to meets their long-term career goals. Consistency is the key to a good SOP as it helps convince evaluators about a student’s dedication and focus. A student should try to convince the evaluators that applying to this course is not a random act but is part of a well thought out long-term career plan.

LOR – The number of Letters of Recommendation required depends on the college or university. Usually, 2 to 3 such letters are sought from students. These recommendation letters are written by teachers, mentors or faculty members of the educational institution that the student was previously associated with. They provide support to a student’s application by highlighting his or her accomplishments. Some institutions also seek similar letters of recommendation from employer if the student has work experience.  They should be in official letter heads or should have the official seal or stamp. Instead of asking the teachers to take out time to write the letter, it is better to prepare the draft yourself and then show it to them for correction. This would save both time and effort.

Supporting Documents

The supporting documents include scanned copies of degrees certificate and mark-sheets, school leaving certificates and mark-sheets, diploma, certificate of project undertaken, work experience certificates etc. They should be scanned copies of original ones. A student applying for MPhil or PhD course should submit scanned copies or links to his or her published research papers.

After submission, a committee will evaluate the application of the student. It may also conduct an interview either telephonically or through video-conferencing. It the applicant is selected, he or she is intimated through an offer letter via email. In order to book the admission to that course, a student has to show that he or she has sufficient funds to finance the course. This can be done by showing the requisite letter of availability of a lending institution.

STEP 3: GET EDUCATION LOAN THROUGH “STUDENT COVER”

Student Cover provides both secured and unsecured education loan to students going abroad to countries like Australia for higher studies. The advantage of applying for education loan through Student Cover is that other than getting unsecured education loans up to Rs 15 Lakhs and secured loans up to Rs. 1 crore, students get loan that help meet both tuition fees and living expenses. Specialist loan executives of Student Cover help students choose the lender that provides education loan at cheapest rates of interest. In addition to that, Student Cover also provides International Student Health and Travel Insurance which is mandatory for studying in foreign countries.

The loan application process is as follows:

STEP 1 CONTACT “STUDENT COVER”: Students can contact us by either calling its 24×7 helpline number (+91 9871377966), emailing at info@studentcover.in or by visiting https://studentcover.in/. We will revert back within 6 hours.

STEP 2 PROFILE & ELIGIBILITY: In this step, our executive will seek detail of the applicant on phone to create his or her profile. Those details will then be sent to respective lenders for eligibility assessment. If the candidate’s profile is found suitable, lenders (Banks or NBFCs) will respond to us informing it about their assent or rejection. This information will be immediately transferred to the student.

STEP 3 DOCUMENTATION: If the lenders agree to finance the candidate’s higher education in Australia, Student Cover will send its executive to collect the certified copies of necessary documents from the candidate. If the candidate happens to be outside Delhi NCR region, an official from the respective financial company will collect those documents from the student.

STEP 4 LOAN APPROVAL AND NEGOTIATION: Within 7 working days after collection of document, we will intimate the student and inform him or her about acceptance or rejection of loan by the respective lender. It will also inform the student about the terms and conditions of loan including rate of interest (RoI) and repayment terms. If the student wants Student Cover to further negotiate the terms of loan on its behalf, we would do it for the student.

STEP 5 PROCESSING FEE AND SANCTION LETTER – On acceptance of the lender’s offer by the student, the client has to submit the requisite processing fee in the bank account of the lending bank or NBFC through cheque or online transfer. On receipt of the processing fee, the bank will send the loan sanction letter to the candidate within 48 hours. Later on disbursement can be at an appropriate time.

Kindly note that Student Cover does not charge any fees from students for any service rendered either for loan or insurance services. The processing fee charged in case of education loan is charged by Bank or NBFC and not Student Cover.

We hope that readers will find the content of this blog useful. To know more about Student Cover’s Education Loan services, please visit https://studentcover.in/loan-product/