Educational loans are available in the market for the students who wish for studying across the borders. In the past year, there has been a rise in the number of students quoting international education loan application for covering up their educational expenses while studying in aboard; there has been a rise in the number of students have who selected aboard universities for higher education. There are a lot of factors and elements an individual should consider while applying for international education loan.

In the first place, then you have to make a concrete decision on which college or university you wish to pursue your higher education and make a thorough research on its fee structure, curriculum, tuition fees and course fees. The information on the cost of living in a particular area and costs for application of Visa will also require to be researched. The educational expenses, cost of living and other educational as well as general expenses also needs to be researched before applying for an international education loan, as the expenses in the foreign country are quite higher. 

The information about international education loans is needed to be briefly understood, including its terms and conditions, as they are complex sometimes. In terms of providing good education, countries like Australia, United States, United Kingdom, and Singapore are some of the great options. This article is focused on the educational loan and educational system of the country of beaches and Kangaroo, Australia, and how to get an international student loan in Australia.

Australia is a highly demanded country for education as it caters educational services for about 600,000 students from about 200 countries. Many students from aboard come to this country for their education as Australia have some recognized schools, universities and colleges. There is a rapid change in the exchange rates, living expenditures and tuition fees of Universities in Australia, so you may have to take a decision for international student loan very carefully. The international student loan in Australia is helpful for student’s wishes to enroll for foreign country education.                 

The article is a guide for you for understanding international student loan, the process of application, and how to get it.

Eligibility criteria for international study loan in Australia

For being eligible for applying for an international study loan, you have to pass the following basic criteria's.

• Achieved a high school diploma or equivalent
• The student has to be eligible non-resident or resident of a country.    
• Admission secured in one of the lists of Universities approved by the bank  
• Financial stability documents for eligibility to repay the loan within the provided period
• Visa for Australia 
• Strong Academic performance 
• Must be above 18 years old or else parents will have to avail the loan on behalf    
• As banks prefer job oriented courses, you must have to choose a course which can ensure a job 
• For diploma courses or higher education like MBA, MCA, MS from the state or central government approved colleges or universities need to be selected 
• The bank will ask to provide security again your international student loans such as property, land or building, government, public or private security bonds bank deposits in the name of student or parents or any person with suitable relations. 

Types of Australian educational loans available for the students

In Australia, based on the educational eligibility, these are different type of loans provided under Internationals student loan 

1. Student loans for Undergraduate degree 

The students who have completed their higher education and wish to pursue their diploma or undergraduate course for increasing job opportunities, the student loan for the undergraduate degree is for those students. 

2. Student loans for graduate or professional courses    

The loan for graduate or professional courses is applicable for those students who hold a graduation degree and wish to pursue a higher degree at any college or university of Australia. The student having an undergraduate degree is only eligible for applying for this loan.

3. Education loan for career 

The education loan for a career is for those students who want to pursue their undergraduate career program in any technical or trading colleges in Australia. For applying for this loan, a candidate r student must have a high school or equivalent degree.           

Private bank loan plans for students

There are many banking institutions present in Australia which offers international student loan. There are many things that need to be considered by a student while selecting a bank such as a comparison rate, interest rates and fees. Some of the top listed banking institutions which provide international student education loan are mentioned as follows:  

• RateSetter:    

The RateSetter is a private bank which provides a low rate of interest with good credits for the borrowers. The comparison rate of this bank is 10.9% per annum, interest rate 8.42% per annum for the amount of $10000 over three years period with applicable fee of $200 upfront and $5 per month. The loan of this bank is considered unsecured. 

• Harmony:  

Another private bank based in Australia, which provides an unsecured personal loan of amount $70000 in very fast through offline and online process. One of the benefits of this bank is there are no hidden fees included or any penalty systems for early repayments. The comparison rate of this bank is in between 7.69% to 28.21% per annum; the bank interest rate is valued 6.99% to 26.95% per annum on the amount of $30000 over five years of the time period. The application fees of this bank are $500 upfront and $0.00 per month. 

• HSBC:

This bank provides an unsecured loan from $5000 to $50000, including fixed repayment terms monthly basis. The comparison rate of this private bank is 10.6% per annum to 16.53% per annum. The interest rate of the bank is between 9.50% per annum to 15.99% per annum on the amount of $30000 for five year period with applicable fee of $150 upfront and $5 per month. 

• ANZ unsecured personal loan:

This private bank provides personal fixed loan up to amount $50000 within the terms of one to seven years, including a response time of 60 sec. The comparison rate of this bank is 11.87% per annum, and interest rate of the bank is 10.99% per annum for an amount of $30000 for about five years of period with application fees of $150 upfront and $10 per month. 

• Moneyplace:

The bank provides a completely online service to its customers for a personal loan with no hidden charges or monthly fees included. The bank also provides $0 of establishment charges for some of its customers.  The comparison fee of the bank is 11.87% per annum, and the interest rate of the bank is calculated 10.99% per annum over an amount of $30000 for over five years, the application fees of the bank are $120 upfront and $10 per month

• CUA Life rich Banking

The establishment fees of this bank are $0 within the limited time for some terms and conditions. The bank does not charge for any penalties for extra repayments or early payments, and there are no monthly fees charged by this bank. The interest rate and comparison rate of this bank is 10.89% per annum for an amount of $30000, with application fees of $0 for over five years.

Universities offering international student loans in Australia 

There are many requirements for which universities in Australia provide international student loan, these student loans include  

• Tuition fees
• Room and board charges 
• Book and supplies fees 
• Living expenditures         

The list of colleges or universities of Australia which are eligible for international student loans are as follows:

• Bond University
• Australian National University
• Central Queensland University
• Australian Catholic University
• Avondale College
• Deakin University
• Griffith University
• La Trobe University
• Charles Sturt University
• Brisbane Institute of TAFE
• Curtin University of Technology
• Flinders University of South Australia
• Murdoch University
• Macquarie University
• James Cook University
• University of Queensland
• University of Sydney
• University of Western Sydney-Nepean
• University of New South Wales
• Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
• University of Melbourne
• Monash University
• University of Newcastle
• University of Tasmania
• University of Wollongong.

Among all colleges operating in Australia, there are some of the top colleges which ensures international student loan:

1. University of Queensland 

This university offers two types of Stafford loans:

• Subsidised Stafford loan 

The students with an undergraduate degree and studying half time grace period and authorized deferment period can avail this loan. After six months of graduation, the repayment of this loan starts or else you withdraw from the study or drop out within half time enrollment.     

• Unsubsidised Stafford loan     

This loan is availed for all students based on financial needs. The students have to repay the loan interest from all period first disbarment. The minimum monthly payment can be included for repaying the loan or entering the repayment period when the point of interest is capitalised. This might increase your monthly repayment amount.   

Loan limits: The loan limit of a dependent undergraduate student will be about $31000 per annum, for independent graduates aggregate loan limited will be about $57000 per annum. The aggregate loan limit for professional students and graduates will be about $138500 per year.     

• Grand PLUS: 

The loan is availed for the graduate students who require co-singer eligibility. The credit check is required to pass by the borrow. The school firstly checks the maximum loan amount allotted based on the eligibility of the student.  The repayment of this loans starts after six months of graduation, the repayment of this loan starts or else you withdraw from the study or drop out within half time enrollment.

• Parent PLUS: 

When the students are dependent on the parents with an undergraduate degree, the parents are allowed to avail a loan for covering the educational expenditure of the student.   

Loan limits: There are no aggregate loan limits for the PLUS plans, but the maximum loan amount you can borrow is total amount is the cost of attendance minus other financial help such as scholarship received by the student  

2. Murdoch University:

The candidates of this university participate in the governmental program of financial aid in other countries. Students avail international student loan is usually from Germany, USA, Canada, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The programs like the US department of veteran affair loans and William D. Ford direct loan can be helpful for the US students. Canadian grants and loans can be helpful for Canadian students. 

• Canadian student loan is available for students through territorial government-operated programs or Canadian student loan program
• William D Ford Direct loan provides Direct plus loan, District unsubsidised loan and Direct subsidised loan for the borrowers    

There are different scholarships presented by Murdoch University under the category of undergraduate, discipline, honors, international, study aboard, and post-graduation  

3. University of Melbourne

The students having poor financial status and might affect participation in the course further is usually considered by this university. There are two types of loans under this university: 

• Short term loans 

The students having short term cash problems can borrow a loan of $10000 for six months.  The repayment of the loan is to be done as per student’s circumstances within November month of the same year. The terms and conditions set by the advisor during loan borrowing. The loans are generally availed to cover expenses of rent in advance, accommodation costs, and winter fuel bills.    

• Long term loans 

Forbearing unexpected costs and educational expenses for the students newly enrolled, the loan is availed of amount $5000. Additionally, the new students are on leave, absent cal avail for this loan. The loans availed by the University of Melbourne are interest-free.

This loan is availed for the students for different purpose like study costs, living costs, or cars as some students live in areas where public transport is not available or for some reason the students cannot use public transports.          

  4. University of Western Australia 

There are four schemes based on which this university provides loans:

• General-purpose loan (international and Australian guarantor)

For an academic year, the university provides a loan of $4000 and for the full year, of course, $8000. The purpose of the loan is to help students cover their living and educational costs. At $100 per month payment, the repayment of loan starts after two months of approval. The remaining amount for $4000 loan is paid within for one year of concession and for $8000 two years of the concession.      

• Emergency Australia student loans (no guarantor)

The amount of $1500 of loan is provided for helping to cover unexpected emergency costs of the students. Within six months, the first $500 of the loan amount is to be repaid, and the rest of the amount is repaid with an agreed schedule within one year. No such interest is charged to the student unless an interest of 12% is charged until the full amount is covered if a student fails scheduled payment.      

• Short term international loan (no guarantor)

The student revives $1500 amount if applied for this loan. For covering unforeseen and expected expenses, this loan is availed for students. The repayment starts four weeks of approval of the loan and is to be repaid within two months. It is interest-free loan unless if the student fails to pay within time, they will be charged by 2.5% of interests.   

• Overseas Study Loan

Equivalent to OS-HELP loan, the University provides a loan amount of $12000 for the whole course. The loan amount may increase if the course takes more time than one semester to complete. The students who are not eligible or for whom the OS-HELP loan is not available, this loan is for those students. The repayment starts immediately after the course ends within a minimum amount of $100 per month.  For the current course, the interest rate is free unless 12% is charged if the student fails to repay it within due time. 

The international student loans are availed by the above-mentioned colleges.

Repayment of international student loan in Australia

There are different guidelines, schemes and procedure for repayment of these loans. The short term loans are repaid within two months of approval of the loan, and long term loans are repaid after six months of commencement and approval of the loan. There are no interests charged if the loan is repaid within the current course duration, but after the completion of the course, the interests are charged.  The rate of interest of the loan is depended on the type of loan selected and availed by the student under governmental programs or under the mentioned universities.

The mode of repayment can be online payment, cash, check or draft, the quarterly or monthly payment can be done under some schemes. Unlikely to universities, loans from a bank can be repaid after the immediate or two-three years completion of course. There are some penalties included for early payments as some banks do not allow early payments.  

This is all about application and availing of international student loan in Australia; the procedures are quite complex, so selected wisely respective schemes for availing educational loans.                 

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