The Land Bank of the Philippines has expanded its direct loan program to students who want to borrow up to P50,000 to buy electronic gadgets such as laptops, desktops, or tablets for online learning.
The expanded program can be included in the maximum loanable amount of P150,000 per student or P300,000 per parent-borrower as payment of tuition or enrollment-related fees under the Interim Students’ Loan for Tuitions towards Upliftment of Education for the Development of the Youth (I-STUDY) Program.
“LandBank recognizes the need to support students in adapting to distance learning modalities,” according to the president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo in a statement.
“While we await the resumption of in-person classes, we hope that the I-STUDY Program can help students cover the financial requirements to purchases needed learning equipment and participate in online classes,” she added.
Students of legal age can now apply for the expanded I-STUDY Program. Prior to that, only parents and guardians were allowed to apply for the program when it launched last year.
In the said statement, LandBank also raised the maximum age eligibility of students to 50 years old from the previous 30 years old.
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LandBank to lend up to P50k for students’ online learning
Also included were scholar students whose scholarship did not fully cover tuition fees, as well as non-scholar students from private pre-school, primary, and secondary schools.
Under the I-STUDY lending program, it has a fixed interest rate of 5% per annum for short-term loans to pre-school, primary, and secondary students that can be repaid within one year.
LandBank also offers loans to tertiary students payable up to a maximum of three years, plus a one year grace period on borrowed money
In May 2020, the bank launched its Access to Academic Development to Empower the Masses towards Endless Opportunities (ACADEME) lending program, which offers zero-interest student loans.
The program offers ‘3-3-3’ features with a P3-billion-program fund in credit support, a very low fixed interest rate of only 3% per annum, and payable based on the maturity of the sub-promissory notes but not to exceed three (3) years. It forms part of LANDBANK’s social investment package to encourage students to pursue and finish their education.