Students loans

Student loans were introduced in 1998 as a way to increase access to higher education. Student loans are granted by commercial banks but an interest rate is subsidized from the state budget. The introduction of loans, using capital being at the disposal of the banks, allows to increase the efficiency of financial aid for students. All students can apply for a loan, regardless the type of institution (public or private) and the mode of study (full-time or part-time), provided that they began their studies before reaching the age 25.

The loan is paid for a maximum period of 6 years. Repayment begins two years from the graduation, and until that time the student does not pay any interest – it’s covered by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (National Holding Bank). Students? loan interest rate at the time the loan is paid is equal to half of the rediscount rate of the Polish National Bank. Additionally, at the request of the borrowers, bank may reduce the amount of installment down to 20% of monthly income.

Submitting applications

Loan applications should be filed in one of creditor banks. The deadline for submitting an application is November 15th 2014.

Priority for granting a loan is given to the students in financial hardship. Every year, the minister responsible for the higher education sets the maximum amount of income per family member entitling the student to apply for a student loan. Qualifying income threshold for the loan will be set at the beginning of December 2014, after all applications from students is submitted. Last year’s limit was 2300 PLN per person, but the limit was not crucial in the decision making if the loan will be granted, but rather it was helping to set the order in which the loans were granted. Exceeding the limit does not disqualify the student from applying for a loan.

If a student has problem meeting the requirements in terms of loan collateral, the student may apply for bail granted by National Holding Bank from the reserves of Loan Guarantee Fund. Currently such bail is set to 70% of the loan for the students from families with an income that is not greater than 1000 PLN per person and in case of orphans and students with family income not exceeding 600 PLN per person, the bail is set to 100% of the loan. National Holding Bank’s bail can be granted at the agency of bank that grants the loan.

Money transfers

Depending on the choice made by the student monthly installments is 600 PLN. The loan period is 10 months, which means that the holiday period – July and August – is excluded from the loan.

The possibility of remission of loan

The loan is remised for students which graduated in the top 5% of graduates. In special cases, the credit can be redeemed in part or even fully, due to the difficult situation in life (illness, accident), or permanent loss of capacity to repay liabilities (disability).

Full information about the conditions for obtaining and repayment of loan can be found in Bursar after the beginning of the new academic year. More detailed information in can be found in the selected bank.