THE Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) has launched two loan products which it is hoping will increase access to higher education for thousands more Jamaican students at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

Lenice Barnett, executive director of the SLB, said the two new loan facilities – ‘SLB ParentPlus’ and ‘SLB PostGrad’ – are now available to Jamaican students at a rate of interest of 13.5 per cent add-on.

“SLB-ParentPlus will assist applicants who knowingly or unknowingly fall outside of the SLB’s target of needy Jamaican students,” said Barnett. Students, she added, may apply also for ParentPlus loans to supplement existing loans, scholarships, bursaries and grants in order to adequately cover the cost of attending college or university.

“One of the key features of the SLB ParentPlus loan is that parents and guardians are eligible to apply for financing on behalf of children who are fully maintained by them for undergraduate study programmes. Additionally, spouses of married undergraduate students and employed part-time undergraduate students are eligible to apply for financing,” added the SLB executive director.

SLB ParentPlus loans are available to students at three local universities: University of the West Indies (UWI), University of Technology (UTech), Northern Caribbean University (NCU), as well as for the following foreign-based universities operating in Jamaica: FIU/IMS, University of New Orleans, Nova Southeastern University, Manchester Business School/Jamaica Institute of Bankers, Mount St Vincent University/IACAE and the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology (CGST).

ParentPlus Loans are pegged to the tuition fees of respective tertiary institutions and the SLB’s allotted grant-in-aid. Each loan is for a period of one to 15 months at the current variable rate of 13.5 add-on, and the principal borrower can access a maximum of five ParentPlus loans during the beneficiary’s programme of study.

In the meantime, the SLB’s special loan vehicle for students pursuing graduate degrees – SLB PostGrad – will lend up to $300,000 per annum with a maximum of $600,000 for the respective programme of study.

The loan covers tuition only.

The rate of interest on SLB PostGrad loans is 13.5 per cent add-on, with a repayment period of one to 12 months, or 15% add-on with a repayment period of 13 to 24 months. There is no moratorium on SLB PostGrad loans, which are available for study at all three local universities and select foreign-based universities operating in Jamaica.

The SLB said yesterday that its ParentPlus and PostGrad loans are the latest in a series of initiatives by the bureau to widen its lending net to as many Jamaicans seeking tertiary education and training.

In January, the SLB went online with its application process, and said that to date more than 2,500 persons have submitted applications online.

“The bureau is appealing to students who are in the process of completing their online applications to hurry and make their submissions,” the bureau said in a statement yesterday.

It said, too, that as a measure to encourage and increase usage of the SLB Online application facility, the SLB plans to waive the $300 application fee in its “Free Online Weekend” offer starting Friday, March 24 until Sunday, March 26.