‘No takers’ for loan needing settlement before graduation

College students in the Philippines are less than enthused about the government’s student loan programme that requires borrowers to pay their debt in full before they can graduate, Commission on Higher Education Chair Prospero de Vera III admitted to lawmakers, writes Melvin Gascon for Philippine Daily Inquirer.

As a result, “there were practically no takers for that type of loan,” the official told the Senate higher education committee on Wednesday 7 September.

De Vera was referring to the Student Loan Program under the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST), which replaced the discontinued Study Now, Pay Later Program. The Commission on Higher Education chief said his agency had earmarked PHP1 billion (US$17.6 million) under the UniFAST budget for student loans this year, but few were taking up the offer, making it difficult to fulfil the objectives of Republic Act No 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
Full report on the Inquirer.net site