Five ways to fund your overseas education

Self Financing: In this method, students use their own family savings and assets to fund their education atleast partially and cover the rest through scholarships and part time work. This is a risk as it leaves the whole family without a plan b.

Secured Loan: Both Public and Private sector banks offer education loans against collateral of a certain value such as a house or land. The loan repayment starts six months after the degree is completed, irrespective of whether you have a job or not, and must be repaid within seven years of finishing the degree. So this is an important factor to be considered before signing up for one. The difference between banks and NBFCs is that banks usually cover 85-90% of expenses such as tuition fees, lodging, travel and lab fees, whereas NBFCs provide 100% cost of Attendance coverage.

Unsecured loan: Another option is to go for unsecured loan offered by many financial institutions without any collateral. This is given based on your credit score. However, since this is riskier for the lender, this could be expensive as you may be charged with higher interest rate for the same loan amount. Students may not be given any favourable repayment terms for the same reason.

According to the latest data from central bank, chunky industrial loans which make up about 30% of non food credit, have witnessed lukewarm demand so far in 2021, underscoring a trend among companies to conserve cash, and deleverage as much as possible. 

SIP Investments: This is more suitable for working professionals as compared to students who would like to pursue their post graduate studies A Systematic Investment Plan is a great way to both invest and save for salaried professionals.The frequency of investment is based on the discretion of the candidate to allow them a flexible approach. SIPs has gained a lot of popularity over the years in financing the educational endeavours of post graduate students.