OREANDA-NEWS. September 17, 2012.  Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (AHML) is launching a new pilot project called “Education”. Mortgage loans will be provided for financing the expenses related to studying full-time, by distance learning or part-time at higher educational institutions in Russia or abroad.

This product will cover studying to get a higher educational degree, complete vocational or further education courses (including part-time courses, internships, post-graduate studies etc.). The loan may be used to pay not only for the studying itself but also for the preparation course, entry examinations, purchase of new study materials, renting accommodation, travel expenses. If studying abroad, it will also include payment for language courses and medical insurance.

One of the material requirements – the future student or his/her co-borrowers (for example, parents) must own the housing that will be provided as mortgage security.

 “In European countries and the USA, student loans are a widely used mechanism for getting education and improving professional qualifications, which will result in higher income in the future, explains the Executive Director of AHML for Innovations Marina Malaychik. Using housing as security can make the student loan considerably less expensive , increase the maximum loan amount and term, thus providing wider choices of ways to get the desired degree and build a career.”

The interest rate under the pilot project is 11-12% per annum. The terms and conditions encourage students to get good grades. Success is acknowledged by reductions in the interest rate: at the loan origination by 0.25%, at the end of studies – from 0.25% to 0.5%, if a degree or a rank is received or if a patent to an invention is registered – by 1%.

It is planned to summarize the results of the pilot project in September 2013.

The pilot project is implemented only through the partners of the Agency.

AHML Department of Information Policy and Strategic Marketing.