Now higher education to go cheaper

[sukishan]

Now higher education to go cheaper
Financing costly professional courses is set to become cheaper for students from modest middle class homes. A Rs 4,000-crore plan is in the works that will enable the government to take over the interest burden on education loans during the 'moratorium period' - the time when students are pursuing academics and have not yet begun earning.

As things stand, education loans come with a clause that allows students not to pay interest during their academic life. The interest for this period is added to the principal and payments begin once the student starts working.

But now, according to a mega scheme being finalised by the Planning Commission, the Prime Minister's Office and the ministry for human resource development, the government will take over the interest burden for the moratorium period - estimated at around Rs 650 crore a year, assuming that five lakh students from families earning Rs 2.5 lakh a year or less avail of the loans. To qualify for the scheme, the student's household income must not exceed Rs 2.5 lakh per annum. The scheme will be open for professional and technical courses at the undergraduate or postgraduate levels.

Broadly, this means students from families with monthly income of around Rs 20,000 or less would get an interest waiver while they pursue medicine, engineering, architecture, management or other such courses recognized by the Medical Council of India, University Grants Commission or All India Council for Technical Education, among others.