Due to a monumental delay in the visa process in the US, Canada, and Australia; students have either postponed their plans to go abroad or opted for an online semester instead. COVID-19 also has a role in students opting for online semesters, as this disease has been responsible for taking many lives already. Both of the aforementioned reasons have led to a reduction in the demand for education loans. The numbers indicate that the applicants declined from 29, 335 in 2020-21 to 16, 275 in 2021-22, which is 45% according to the latest report by the State Level Bankers Committee, (SLBC) – Gujarat. If we compare the number of applicants pre-covid to post-covid, the percentage decrease is even more prominent, a whopping 60% fall in education loan applicants.
One of the residents in Ahmedabad, Meghavi Ranpara, had bagged a seat at Saskatchewan Polytechnic in the Saskatchewan province of Canada in July 2021. She was not given a visa till December 2021, due to which she was forced to postpone her admission to August 2022. Ranpara explained how she is paying EMIs for her education loan, when in fact her education has not even been started yet.
A top source in the state-level banker’s committee shared how the number of applicants for foreign education has dropped low due to the pandemic. He explains how India was going through the second wave of COVID along with the travel restrictions. The restriction impositions along with the spike in costs of education have led to the decline in demand for education loans. This is because foreign education aspirants make up a huge part of the total education loan applicants at banks.
Demand for Education Loan Drops by Almost 50%
You May Like
More From VOI
