Published date: 07 Aug 2020 Updated on: 07 Aug 2020 The hefty college fees and the cumbersome education loan process are two of the biggest challenges that students face. Keeping in view these challenges, the Government of India developed an online portal for students to pursue higher education without the constraints of funds. Set up in August 2015 under the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram, VidyaLakshmi Portal is an online portal for students to explore, compare, and apply for educational loans and scholarships. What is VidyaLakshmi Portal For Education Loans? Vidya Lakshmi is a first of its kind online portal for students seeking education loans and scholarships. It is developed under the guidance of the Department of Financial Services, Department of Higher Education, and Indian Banks Association. There are 37 registered banks and 126 educational loan schemes available on the portal for the students to explore. What are the Key Features of the VidyaLakshmi Portal? The portal offers a single-window for the students to view, apply, and track education loans and scholarships. Some of the Features of the Portal include - Students can access information regarding 126 education loans from 37 registered banks on the portal. There is a Common Education Loan Application Form (CELAF) to apply for the loans. Students can apply for a loan from up to 3 banks of their choice with a common application form. The entire loan process is online and can be completed from the comforts of your home. The portal gives the option to compare different loan schemes to make an informed decision. The portal makes it easy for the students to track their loan application as the banks will update their loan processing status. Students can air their grievances or queries related to the Education loan to the bank through the portal. There is a direct link to search through the National Scholarship Portal for information and apply for Government Scholarships. How Can You Apply For An Education Loan On The VidyaLakshmi Portal? To apply for education loans on VidyaLakshmi Portal, students will have to follow the below-mentioned steps - Create a login ID and password on the portal. Go to your email inbox and click on the verification link. The link is valid only for 24 hours. Once verified, you will be redirected to the portal. Enter your credentials to log in to your account. Search for the education loan according to your needs, eligibility, and convenience. Apply for a suitable education loan by filling up a Common Education Loan Application Form (CELAF). The Common Education Loan Application Form (CELAF) is a single form to apply for an educational loan to multiple banks/schemes, prescribed by the Indian Bank Association (IBA), and accepted by all banks. Accessing The Dashboard The dashboard can be accessed by logging into your account. Once logged in, you will see eight orange tabs, namely - Loan Application Form Application Status Edit Profile Search and Apply For a Loan Scheme Grievance Change Password Searching For An Education Loan To search for an education loan, click on the orange tab ‘Search and Apply for loan Scheme’. You will be redirected to a page with all the schemes of the registered banks. You can filter the schemes according to your requirements, such as the location of the study, course, and loan amount required. You will get a comprehensive list of schemes with an option to apply for it. On clicking on a particular scheme, you will be redirected to a page with detailed information about it. Remember you can only apply for a loan to a maximum of 3 banks and only one scheme of that bank. How To Fill The VidyaLakshmi Common Education Loan Application Form? Once you have selected the loan scheme you want to apply for, click on the ‘Loan Application Form’. The form has seven sections that are mandatory to fill - Personal Information Details of relationship with the bank Particulars of the course, for which the loan is required Cost of course/source of finance Details of securities offered - mandatory for a loan above INR 4 lakhs. Prospects of earning after completion of the course Supporting documents Keep the scanned copies of your documents handy as the session will timeout after 15 minutes. Remember to ‘save’ or ‘submit’ on every tab to save the information. Once the form is filled, you can select the schemes you want to apply for. On a successful loan application, you can check the status of your loan under the tab ‘Application Status’. You can track whether your application has been accepted or rejected by the bank/s. The bank might also put your application on hold if it requires some more information or documents. This will be indicated in the remarks section on the ‘Application Status’ page and can be checked on the dashboard. Some Points To Keep in Mind Fill the CELAF carefully after reading the guidelines. Once the application is submitted, no changes can be made. Keep checking the dashboard, your loan application status, and your registered email address for any updates from the bank. Make sure you have entered a valid mobile number while registering as the banks might contact you regarding your application. Check your eligibility for the loan before you apply for the loan. Remember that you can apply for one scheme from one particular bank at a time. Respond within the stipulated time. Otherwise, the bank will mark your application as ‘closed’. For a loan amount less than or equal to INR 7.5 lakhs, respond within 15 days. For a loan amount above INR 7.5 lakhs, respond within 30 days. What is the VidyaLakshmi Education Loan Interest Rate? The VidyaLakshmi portal gives you information about 126 loan schemes offered by 37 banks. The interest rate offered varies depending on the bank and the scheme you select and apply for. Which Banks Provide Loans On The Portal? On the day of this article publishing, there are 37 registered banks offering education loans. Some of them are - Bank of India Indian Overseas Bank Axis Bank RBL Bank Union Bank of India Bank of Baroda State Bank of India Andhra Bank Central Bank of India Dena Bank HDFC Bank IDBI Bank Syndicate Bank Canara Bank Punjab National Bank How To Search For and Apply For Scholarships on the VidyaLakshmi Portal? To make it easier for the students to secure appropriate funding for their higher education, the Government of India launched VidyaSaarthi - a platform for applying to various scholarships by corporates. The portal is free to use by any student looking for scholarships. Students can apply for multiple scholarships and schemes on the portal. This can be done by registering on the portal and searching for relevant scholarships. To expand your search, visit GyanDhan to search through thousands of scholarships offered by various universities, organizations, and institutes. What are the Benefits of the VidyaLakshmi Portal? The portal provides a comprehensive list of banks and education loan schemes offered by them. Students can explore hundreds of schemes, compare them, and apply for the relevant ones. It makes the process online making it easier for the students who are unable to visit the branch or have transportation issues. Students can also conveniently track their application, file any grievances, read about the Central Sector Interest Subsidy Scheme (CSIS). What are Some of the Problems Faced By the Students on the VidyaLakshmi Portal? The portal, though trying to bridge the gap between the students and funding, sometimes fails to keep the students updated on their loan application status. The bank might fail to update the application status of the loan throwing students in a lurch or might not respond even after the stipulated time of 15 days. Oftentimes, students keep waiting for a response from the bank without any information on the status of their application. Need Help in Education Loans? Fill This Form and Get Free Expert Assistance To tackle this issue, it is best to apply for a loan via GyanDhan. We work closely with several Indian Banks. We keep a close eye on the status of your loan application and keep you updated at every step. Further, students might not be able to apply for an unsecured education loan on the portal as it asks for collateral details for a loan above INR 4 lakhs. In this case, the student will have to look for alternate options for an unsecured loan. GyanDhan will come to your rescue as we can help you apply for a loan from private banks as well as private lenders. We have partnered with several of the lenders to help you secure your education loan without any hassle or multiple branch visits. The process to start your education loan via GyanDhan is to simply check your loan eligibility here.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.gyandhan.com/blogs/vidyalakshmi-portal-education-loan