University Students Loan Reforms:

• Private and Public University ‘Needy’ Students are beneficiaries 

• Limited to students pursuing accredited programmes and colleges

• Loans be repayed two years after graduation of beneficiary 

The newly established Higher Education Students’ Loan and Grants Board has announced procedure that ‘needy’ university students should follow to access loans and grants.

Geoffrey Chipungu Board Chairperson declared in Lilongwe that under the new Board, needy students will be required to apply for the loans through filling forms introduced by the board.

Chipungu said eligible students must be Malawians admitted to pursue or is pursuing “an accredited higher education programme at an accredited institution and has no financial assistance from any other source” to cover the items of cost for which the application is made. 

Unlike the past where the loans were only accessible to students from public universities, Chipungu said the Board will be receiving applications from students in private universities but those pursuing and admitted into “unaccredited programmes are not eligible” to apply for either the loan or grants.

“All needy students will be expected to apply by completing the form” said Chipungu while indicating that once application is successful the loan will be valid for one year but students will be allowed to apply for another new loan if they still want it. 

He assured that the new forms are “quite comprehensive” to collect all necessary ‘needy’ information that will help the Board make best determination of right persons to access the loans and grants.

The Board Chairperson then said “no quota system” will be used to identify the needy in the programme

“There will be no such a thing like equitable distribution like number of needy students in a town. We are going to allocate loans to needy students but we are not going to look at where they come from.” he said 

The 2015-2016 budget allocated only K1.5 billion for the programme. The Board chairperson said due to limited resources, not all students applying for the programme will automatically qualify for the loans.

As such, the board has appealed for more donations to the Board so that that it can have more resources 

“The Board wishes to appeal to well meaning individuals and organizations to complement Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Fund by supporting needy students in various institutions of higher learning.” Said Chipungu

Chipungu also indicated that as of Thursday 13th August 2015, the board had already sent out forms to all accredited universities for students to fill them. He assured that, the Board will possibly allocate loans for the very first time in the month of September 2015.

Under the new Board, beneficiaries will be expected to start repaying the loans two years after graduation 

The Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board was established by an Act of Parliament No. 2 of 2015 to provide education loans and grants as well as repayment. The Act also empowers the Board to establish operational links with employers of loan beneficiaries for the purpose of facilitating the recovery of students loans.