Different Types of Government Funded Student Loans in UK
As the rates of higher education is on the rise, student loans are now becoming more and more essential to any student who intends to pursue good higher education. Any student living in England can obtain higher education loans to meet his educational as well as maintenance costs through the government or from the universities.
The full time student loan granted by the government is more helpful to the student as they do not have to pay back the money until the completion of the course or till the student starts earning a pay of more than £15,000 per year. Apart from this, the grants or bursaries obtained by the full time students from the universities and colleges need not be paid back. The different types of higher education student loans that the government offers are:
Tuition fees
A student living in UK is eligible for higher education student loan if the person is doing undergraduate degree or post graduation in teacher training and the tuition fees loan will cover either the entire tuition fee amount or in part. The student loans for tuition fees are issued by the Student Finance Direct, a service that is run by the Student Loan Company with the help of the government authorities, directly to the universities or colleges. Any student intending to apply for the student loan for tuition fees has to check whether the course selected by the student is eligible for the loan.
Maintenance
Another type of government student loan available to the students in UK is financial cover for maintenance. This can also cover all the necessary maintenance costs like accommodation charges, transportation charges, stationary charges etc.
These types of loans are also issued by the Student Finance Direct and are paid to the bank account of the student in three installments at the starting of each term.
The amount that a student can borrow for maintenance may vary depending on different factors like the household income, place of stay while studying and the year of the course. If a student is already getting a maintenance grant, then the amount that can be borrowed for maintenance from the Student Finance Direct service is lesser.
A student can apply for the government funded student loans either online or through paper at the starting of the course itself. The allotted time frame for a student to submit the application for loans is from the starting day of the academic year till nine months of the course. A student can apply for other relevant personal finance products if he or she does not qualify for government funded student loan.
Liza Mathers currently serves as personal finance editor of a popular UK Personal finance comparison site called Seek4finance.
During her 9 years in journalism, Liza has won a series of award for her personal finance journalism, ranging from awards for campaigning journalism, business scoops, all-round personal finance knowledge and her proven ability to explain personal finance in simple plain English.
In a nutshell, Liza puts the consumer, not the personal finance industry, first.