HNB'S 'Graduateship Educational loan Scheme' offers unique benefits for students to pursue higher education
Loans through user-friendly, simple processes and at attractive rates of interest
A large majority of students today fail to gain admissions into local universities. As a result, they explore alternative options to pursue an academic or professional qualification. Several educational institutions in Sri Lanka offer diplomas, undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in addition to professional qualifications such as CIMA, ACCA, CIM, CA and CFA, some of which are affiliated to foreign universities. Having understood the vast amount of untapped potential available in the market, HNB has relaunched their Graduateship Educational Loan scheme to suit the needs of Sri Lankan students wishing to pursue an advanced qualification.
"It's simple, user-friendly and hassle-free," says R. M. P. Dayawansa, Assistant General Manager - Personal Financial Services. "They can walk into any of HNB's 248 customer centres and make a request supported by basic documents to obtain this facility. We have also assigned designated officers to handle these loan applications in selected areas where several reputed educational institutions have come forward to tieup with HNB to offer Graduateship Educational Loans for their prospective students. As we have clearly identified the needs of this segment, these loans are great news for anyone who wants to pursue a professional or higher education in Sri Lanka or overseas."
The loans on offer cover registration, course, tuition and examination fees for locally-conducted educational courses while living expenses will also be covered for courses in foreign countries. Loans can be obtained by students who are able to fulfil repayment terms on their own or jointly with their parents from their nearest HNB customer centre. The Bank offers both short tenure ( 6month) loan facilities as well as long-term loans up to 7 years, with or without a grace period, depending on the repayment ability of the students and their parents. Credit facilities are also offered at very attractive and competitive rates of interest.
"Guarantors are not required for loans up to Rs. 250,000 on the shorter repayment options," explains Mrs. Gowrie Arjuna, Senior Manager - Personal Financial Services. "Generally, 2 to 3-year professional courses are conducted in 4 to 5 stages of 6 months each. With an initial loan of up to Rs. 250,000, students can, as they make progress in their study program, roll over this loan facility. Take CIMA, CIM or ACCA for example, each loan can be repaid in 6 instalments as the programme is conducted in stages of 6 months each. This is extremely convenient for students and parents, because after repaying the entire loan within the first 6 months, they can move to the second stage of the course with another credit facility and continue until they complete their course. As we have tied up with many educational institutions, we will also have a constant assurance that the student is progressing successfully."
The same model applies for loans up to Rs. 750,000 for diploma and degree programmes conducted by local institutions where payments are made periodically. These loans are offered against two guarantors with a repayment period of up to 5 years and a grace period of 18 months. These loans could also be opted for with a longer repayment of up to 7 years but against a mortgage over immovable property.
Loans above Rs 750,000 are also offered against a mortgage over immovable property in order to cover local degree programmes affiliated to foreign universities or a fulltime university education abroad. These loans are repayable over a maximum period of 7 years. The 7-year loan repayment facility comes with an initial 3 to 4-year grace period depending on the study period and requirements of the students and their parents.
Mrs. Arjuna went on to state that the demand for academic and professional studies in Sri Lanka has grown significantly over the years. "In the last few years alone, although 60% of GCE Advanced Level students passed the final examination, only 10% to 15% of them had the opportunity to enter a local university. As a result, many students were compelled to find alternative higher educational options in other institutions."
Furthermore, students who apply for a Graduateship Educational Loan are also eligible for a number of value-added services and benefits from HNB. By opening a savings account, students are eligible for the attractive "Pathum Vimana" prize scheme in addition to a debit card or a supplementary credit card from their parents as well as internet, mobile and SMS banking. Outward foreign remittances for educational purposes and several other banking services are also available for students while HNB continuously supports the progress of their academic and professional careers.
Orion City has achieved half a million square feet of high end state of the art office space with the completion of the 2nd phase of its expansion project and is ahead of schedule to achieving the end goal of 3 million sqft of premier high tech office space.
Located on 16 acres of land in Colombo 9 and housing many of Sri Lanka's leading IT/BPO companies OrionCity is the island's only operational IT Park. This organization's long term goal is to become a key player in the global IT/BPO market as well as raise Sri Lanka's position in the global market as a significant player in the IT/BPO sector. The company caters to all sizes and segments of the IT/BPO sector both locally and internationally while enhancing their capacities both organically and inorganically. OrionCity also takes an interest in helping companies grow and reach their full potential by sourcing funding organizations both locally and internationally. Other than providing IT facilitation to software development and BPO services companies, OrionCity is also equipped to assist and facilitate start-up companies by providing them with "incubation centres". These unique incubation centres will have all the necessary infrastructure facilities required to start an IT /BPO operation.
"The idea behind this is for the start up to grow along side Orion to reach new heights in innovation and development. It is not just giving out office space it also provides the insight and knowledge into working in a more holistic way. We will provide and ensure the best so that all companies operating at Orion City will get optimum results exceeding their expectations," says OrionCity Business Development Manager Hariharan Padmanaban.
This only operational IT Park in Sri Lanka is currently finalizing plans to offer multipurpose mixed development structures which will house serviced apartments, additional retail space equipped with shopping malls and food courts in addition to the ATMs, banks, gymnasium, food courts and shops that are currently functioning.
Orion City managed by Orion Management Consortium is a part of the St. Anthony's Group of Companies.