Student Financial Aid

1. NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS

There are two major sources of National Scholarships:

i. Ministry of Education (MoE)

ii. Higher Education Commission (HEC)
The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) offers following two types of scholarships to Pakistani Students:

a. HEC Scholarship Programmes:

Under this program, The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) provides a number of scholarships to the Pakistani students for the professional & higher education. The scholarships are provided for various Undergraduate, Masters and PhD programmes, both within the country and foreign universities. These scholarships are advertised through major national newspapers and are also available on HEC website. (http://beta.hec.gov.pk/Pages/main.aspx)

b. HEC Foreign Fellowships
The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) also annouces various foreign fellowships that are mostly sponsored by a foreign partner. The details of such fellowships are provided on HEC website here.




2. INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS

Here are some International scholarship programs available for Pakistani Students. Further detail is available at the link given below under each heading.

1. Sheffield University Scholarship
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/pakistan/scholarships.html

2. British Council Scholarship
http://www.britishcouncil.org/pakistan-education-scholarships.htm

3. Deutsche Botschaft Islamabad Scholarship
http://www.islamabad.diplo.de/Vertretung/islamabad/en/06/Studieren__in__Deutschland/Stipendien.html

4. The British Chevening Scholarships
http://www.chevening.com/about/countries/pakistan/index.html

5. NRF Research Postdoctoral Fellowships
https://rita.nrf.gov.sg/AboutUs/NRF_Initiatives/NRF_RF_2008

6. HEC-Japanese Need Based Scholarship

http://www.fui.edu.pk/web/page.asp?id=440

Some other scholarships available for Pakistani students include:

• Japan Scholarship Program at National University of Singapore
• Endeavour International Scholarship, Curtin (Australia)
• Doctoral Research Grants, University of Heidelberg (Germany)
• Harvard University Faculty Fellowships
• Monash Graduate Scholarship, MGS (Australia)
• Research Fellowship Program for Young Muslim Scholars
• World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program - JJ/WBGSP (Japan)
• Studentships in Law, Arts, Social Sciences (UK)
• DAAD Scholarships for Pakistani students (Germany)
• Postgraduate Research Scholarships, La Trobe (Australia)
• Fellowships at Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington (USA)
• Rhodes Scholarship 2009, University of Oxford (UK)
• 2009-10 Fellowships in International Human Rights (HRW, USA)
• Undergraduate Scholarships for International Students, Western Australia
• Canon Foundation Scholarships 2009
• 2009 Endeavour Awards in Australia open for International Students
• DUHS Scholarship for Higher Studies
• World Bank - Young Professionals Scholarship Program
• Full Scholarships in Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China
• Commonwealth General Scholarship Program 2008

Besides above mentioned scholarships, there are many other scholarship programs available for Pakistani students. Most of the universities provide merit based scholarships, so it is better to contact university you select, to know about scholarship programs available at that particular university.

NOTE:

There are a lot of scholarships to Pakistan Students offered by USA, UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and some international organization. The detail of these scholarships will be uploaded at this blog shortly. So add this blog to your favourites and keep on visiting http://loanorg.blogspot.com/

Please forward this link to other pakistani students so that they may get some financial assistance.

School certification would be required by many private lenders who are giving out the private student loans. Federal student loans are the best financial solutions for students. But the major problem with these financial solutions is that the money obtained through these loans would not be sufficient enough to handle all the expenses. A private student loan is always necessary to manage all the expenses associated with the college education. In such cases, the private college loans provide great relief to all students.

To obtain these loans with no school certification, you need to search for lenders who are ready to give loans without the involvement of your institution. This is not very hard to obtain at all. You just need to search everywhere in the internet where basic information about the student loans is given. There are many websites where the side by side comparisons between various lenders are given. These will provide massive help to students in picking the best offers.

But the private lenders are going to depend on the credit score for their loan approval. If you do not have a good credit rating, a credit worthy cosigner will be the ultimate solution to get the college loan. Lenders would never agree to give loans if you have a bad credit and are not able to provide a cosigner. Since these lenders need to be paid only after graduating, there will be no pressure on you initially. But once the college education is over, you have to start paying the lender. So be patient and get a lowest interest rate loan so as to avoid problems in the future.

In April 2009, the Student Loans Company announced that it will now be registering defaulting customers with the credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax and Callcredit). Initially, this will only target customers who took out loans before 1998. Student loans taken out after 1998 are collected by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) with payments taken directly from earnings. This makes it much harder for these customers to avoid paying their debt.

The student loans Company believes that it has up to 60,000 customers who took out loans before 1998 who are failing to pay. Loans in default that will be registered with the credit agencies include those still owned by the student loans company itself and also Honours Student Loans which purchased a number of the loans over the past 10 years. The Student Loans Company believes that half of these (30,000 individuals) will end up being registered as defaulting with the credit reference agencies.

Defaulting clients will be given 28 days to agree a repayment or deferral plan. After this, customers who have not deferred and are not meeting repayment obligations will be registered with the credit reference agencies. Once a default is registered, it will remain on the individual's credit file for 6 years in line with the current industry practise. The default will show up if and when the defaulting client tries to apply for credit in the future. Many credit card companies and high street lenders will then be put off from offering new credit agreements or extending existing facilities.

The question is whether this new initiative is a good or bad thing? Prior to the initiative's launch, information about the non payment of student loans company debts was not disclosed. This meant potential lenders had no idea that the customer had a past history of credit problems. Arguably, this was not a satisfactory situation for either the debtors or potential lenders as people who were not in a position to repay their current debts were being offered additional credit.

Over the past 10 years, I have seen the negative effect of this situation. I have worked with many graduates who have taken student loans which they have not been able to repay on leaving higher education. If a graduate is lucky enough to find a job after leaving university, many find that they continue to borrow to fund their more expensive lifestyles. Subsequently they fall deeper into debt which is made even more difficult to repay because of their student loan repayment obligations.

Of course, controlled borrowing does not necessarily lead to credit problems. I strongly believe that where people are maintaining their student loan repayment, obligations, then they should have the opportunity to take further credit. These facilities can be vital in helping a graduate establish a new career which may require new accommodation, clothing and increased living expenses. However, I agree with the Student Loans Company when it argues that it is vital to make data on its problem clients available to potential lenders. If this does not happen then there is an increased risk that those already struggling to repay what they owe will be offered further credit and fall deeper and deeper into debt.

I would think that commercial lenders will also welcome this development which gives them the opportunity to minimize their losses by not lending where they feel that the risk of non payment is too great. Ultimately, if individuals who are defaulting on their student loan repayments are allowed to take further credit, it is likely that there will be difficulties with the repayment of the commercial credit into the future. If this happens and the individual then chooses to declare them self insolvent (entering into either an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or Bankruptcy), the student loans Company is protected as their debt will not be written off within these procedures. However the commercial lenders will lose their shirts. This is clearly not a good prospect for lenders or the wider economy which, as we have seen in the past year, may suffer greatly on the back of unpaid bad debt.

Worldwide student loan consolidation is not as hard as it sounds. Research and diligence are two tools that are needed for this task. Below are three tips on how to make this process a little less daunting.

Consolidation From Abroad:

Assuming that you obtained private loans in order to study abroad, you may find that consolidating the loans is tough. Not only is it tough to find companies who are willing to consolidate loans that were for use overseas, you will find that the interest rates are much more expensive than loans given to students who studied at home. The first tip would be to search online and find the lowest interest rate. You can easily use a search engine to find these companies. Once you have found the directory, you will want to do research on the company. Choose a company that has the lowest interest rate but at the same time a company that is well established and always read the fine print.

Consolidations: Federal Or Private:

The same rules apply when searching for a worldwide student loan consolidation when you went to school in your home country. You have a choice of using federal or private companies. Federal loans will almost always have the lowest interest rate and you can find them fixed if that is what you prefer. However, soon all federal loans in the US will be fixed which will keep you from saving when variable rates go down. Private loan consolidators have a higher interest rate and mostly use a variable interest rate. This has its pluses and minuses too. With a variable rate you could end up spending more than you would on a fixed rate consolidation if rates rise.

Worldwide Student Loan Consolidation:

There are private institutions that may help with student loans whether you studied abroad or you studied at home. You should obtain a list from your college that will help with the decision making process. Your college whether overseas or not will help with any and all loan requests. You need only make an appointment with financial aid.

If you are student you can obtain worldwide student loan consolidations though perseverance and patience. You will want to take the time to assure you are getting the best possible deal from a reputable company.

Wish you had enough money to take an overseas vacation? Or renovate your home? Now you can
realize your dream with a Personal Installment Loan from HSBC. This convenient and easy-to-obtain all-purpose loan does not require invoices or quotations of whatever you intend to purchase.
Benefits
All purpose Loan 
No personal guarantee - no cash security 
Wide range of loan amounts - the scheme covers loans ranging from PKR50,000 to PKR500,000 (up to a maximum of ten times of your monthly income) 
Simple and easy documentation when applying for the loan 
No hidden costs with low processing fees 
Flexible repayment period - You can repay the loan in the form of equal monthly
installments (EMI) in 12 to 60 months. Just choose whichever suits your needs. Your monthly installment will be debited from your personal account held with us.  
Wish you had enough money to take an overseas vacation? Or renovate your home? Now you can
realize your dream with a Personal Installment Loan from HSBC. This convenient and easy-to-obtain all-purpose loan does not require invoices or quotations of whatever you intend to purchase.

Benefits
All purpose Loan 
No personal guarantee - no cash security 
Wide range of loan amounts - the scheme covers loans ranging from PKR50,000 to PKR500,000 (up to a maximum of ten times of your monthly income) 
Simple and easy documentation when applying for the loan 
No hidden costs with low processing fees 
Flexible repayment period - You can repay the loan in the form of equal monthly
installments (EMI) in 12 to 60 months. Just choose whichever suits your needs. Your monthly installment will be debited from your personal account held with us.

Eligibility
Age between 21-60 years. 
Minimum monthly income of PKR30,000 for permanent and contractual employees