Union Bank of India Education Loan

Union Bank of India is India’s fifth largest public sector bank, owned by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Union Bank of India offers student loans at interest rates starting from 9.25% to study abroad aspirants for their higher education in India and Abroad. When Union Bank first introduced its unsecured education loan product in 2023, it had been a major hit in the study abroad student community. It was the first time a public sector bank offered unsecured education loans of up to 40 Lakhs without a collateral requirement. But this perspective soon started changing because what followed was a series of bad experiences students had with Union Bank. In this article, we are going to discuss all there is to know about the education loan products of Union Bank.

Education loan products of Union Bank of India

The demand for education loans is on the rise these days, not just to study in India but also to study abroad. Therefore, an education loan from Union Bank of india is offered under the following schemes:

Union Bank of India education loan scheme for study abroad

Union Bank of India education loan scheme for study in India

You'll find everything you need to know about the Union Bank Education Loan in this video, from schemes, loan amount, interest rates, and processing fees to information directly from the bank circulars which is nowhere available online even on the official website of Union Bank.

Union Bank of India Education Loan Scheme for Study Abroad

Union Education - Abroad Studies

Providing coverage of all education-related costs such as tuition and other fees, accommodation, travel, and other incidental expenses, Union Bank helps students achieve their goals and succeed in their subjects of interest. Information on other criteria for loan qualification, the amount of the loan, interest rates, and the structure of repayment are further provided to assist the students in the application process.

Courses covered:

If your course is not listed above, then also there is no need to worry. Get in touch with your financial officer at WeMakeScholars to know other lenders who provide education loans for your course of study.

Special Union Education Loan Schemes for Premier Institute Abroad Studies

Under this scheme, Union Bank of India provides education loans with collateral security and education loans without collateral to students for their higher studies in 200 premier universities in popular study-abroad destinations like the USA, Canada, Germany, the UK, etc. The premier university list is prepared by the bank itself.

Further details about this scheme are mentioned below in the table

Loan Parameters

Details

Loan Limit

Without collateral - Upto 40 lacs

(For a higher amount you'll have to pledge collateral security whose value is 50% of the loan amount)

Accepted co-applicant

Parents, Parents in law, spouse, Siblings, Cousins

Interest Rate

Moratorium Period

Course duration + 12 months

Repayment Duration

15 years after the moratorium period

Eligibility Criteria

Collateral Requirements

Loan Margin

15% of the loan amount

Acceptable programs:

There are no processing fees for sanctioning education loans under the Special Union Education Loan Scheme, however, the students will have to pay Rs 5,000 to the bank, which will be refunded if the student avails of the loan within 3 months from the date of sanction.

Additionally, there will be, a legal and valuation charge of Rs 7,500 to Rs 10,000 when students take collateralized education loans eligible under the scheme, the amount of which will have to be paid by the student separately.

* NOTE: If the collateral is offered for the loan below Rs. 40 lacs interest concession is available.

Union Kisan Shiksha Suvidha

Loan Parameters

Details

Loan Limit

Accepted co-applicant

Parents, Parents in law, spouse, Siblings, Cousins

Interest Rate

Moratorium Period

Course duration + 12 months

Repayment Duration

15 years after the moratorium period

Repayment policies

Students can pay their interest amount later on with EMI if they choose to skip paying it during the moratorium period

Eligibility Criteria

Loan Margin

Collateral Accepted for Union Kisan Shiksha Suvidha:

Note: Union Bank requires the utilization of a minimum of 20% of the sanctioned loan amount, and failure to comply may result in consequences for the applicant.

Worried about where to apply for an education loan for aboard education

Union Bank of India Education Loan scheme for Study in India

Union Education - Inland studies

Union Bank sponsors most aspects of education such as tuition fees, accommodation, transport, and other essential needs. Additional information regarding the requirements of the loans, the amount that can be borrowed, the costs of the loans as well as the method of repaying the loans are provided to assist the learners in the loan application process. Go through the table below to find more einformation.

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Courses covered under Union Education India

Special Union Education Loan Scheme for Premier Medical Institutes

Loan Parameters

Details

Loan Limit

Accepted co-applicant

Parents, Parents in law, spouse, Siblings, Cousins

Interest Rate

Moratorium Period

Course duration + 12 months

Repayment Duration

Eligibility Criteria

Students should secure admission in full-time medical courses (MBBS, MD, MS)

Acceptable Collaterals

Loan margin

10% of the loan amount

* NOTE

If the collateral is offered for the loan below Rs. 40.00 lacs, an interest concession is available.

Education loan under the Special Union Education Loan Scheme for Premier Medical Institutes is offered by Union Bank of India only for selected prime colleges & universities in India.

Special Scheme for students of Premier Management & Technical Institutes Inland Tier I

Loan Parameters

Details

Loan Limit

Accepted co-applicant

Parents, Parents in law, spouse, Siblings, Cousins

Interest Rate

Moratorium Period

Course duration + 12 months

Repayment Duration

Eligibility Criteria

Loan margin

* NOTE

There are no processing fees for taking an education loan under the Special Scheme for students of Premier Management & Technical Institutes Inland Tier I. However, The rate of interest and other loan parameters vary according to the course like MBA programs for working executives, PG programs in management for working executives, and e-post graduate offered by different educational institutions.

Special Scheme for Students of Premier Management & Technical Institutes (Tier-II)

Loan Parameters

Details

Loan Limit

Accepted co-applicant

Parents, Parents in law, spouse, Siblings, Cousins

Interest Rate

Moratorium Period

Course period + 12 months

Repayment Duration

Eligibility Criteria

NRI students are not eligible under the scheme.

Loan margin

* NOTE

There are no processing fees to take education loans under the Special Scheme for students of Premier Management & Technical Institutes (Tier-II) but, the rate of interest for this scheme is floating.

Union Kisan Shiksha Suvidha

Loan Parameters

Details

Loan Limit

Accepted co-applicant

Parents, Parents in law, spouse, Siblings, Cousins

Interest Rate

Moratorium Period

Course duration + 12 months

Repayment Duration

Repayment policies

The interest amount charged from borrowers during the moratorium period is optional to be repaid to them. Students can choose to get it added to the total loan amount and pay it with EMIs

Eligibility Criteria

Loan margin

Note: Union Bank requires the utilization of a minimum of 20% of the sanctioned loan amount, and failure to comply may result in consequences for the applicant.

If it's the least interest rate and easy repayment policies is what your looking for, We got you

List of Expenses Covered Under Union Bank Education Loan

Comment- If you have any doubt about the expenses covered under the education loan. Just comment it down.

Union Bank of India Education Loan Processing fee

The education loan processing fee of Union Bank of India is 5000/- Rs. It is refundable if you take a disbursement within 3 months. In addition to that, a legal and valuation fee of 10,000/- Rs is charged on your immovable property in case you go for a collateralized loan.

But, in some schemes for example, Special Union Education Loan Schemes for Premier Institute Abroad Studies, Special Scheme for students of Premier Management & Technical Institutes Inland Tier I, Special Scheme for students of Premier Management & Technical Institutes (Tier-II), etc there is no processing fee.

But, the services of WeMakeScholars are always totally free of cost for the students, as we are funded and supported by the IT Ministry, under the Digital India Campaign, we do not charge any type of fees from the students. To start your loan process with WeMakeScholars, reach out to your financial officer by requesting a callback or filling up the common application form.

Documents Required for Union Bank of India Education Loan

Submitting all the necessary documents in the first step to get your education loan process started, but how to know which all documents are must to do so? Our recent article lists all the important documents needed to get an education loan. Here are the main documents needed specifically for Union Bank education loan:

  1. Completed Application Form
  2. Admission Confirmation: Proof that you got accepted into the Institute you picked.
  3. Identification Copies: Copies of ID like Passport, Voter ID, Driving Licence, or PAN Card.
  4. Passport Photos: Two recent small photos of the person applying, co-applicant, and guarantor.
  5. Educational Records: Show your latest exam marks and the result of the entrance test you took to get into the course (like CAT, GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.).
  6. Financial Records:
    1. Income Proof: Papers that show how much money your parents or guardians make, supported by their income tax statements from the last 2 years.
    2. Financial Statements: Provide six months' worth of bank statements or recent payslips.
    3. Course Expenses Plan: Detailed plan showing the costs you expect for your course.
    4. Current Financial Obligations: Tell about any loans you're paying off currently and any scholarships you got.

    However, the above mentioned documents list is general and is subject to vary as per your loan profile. But, to get the exact document checklist specially customized as per your loan requirements, get in touch with your financial officer at WeMakeScholars.

    We take care of your complete documentation process for your education loan completely

    Union Bank of India Education loan Insurance

    Union Bank of India provides education loan insurance to students, the loan insurance amount is around 1-2 % of the total loan amount. It is a safety option that prevents the parents or co-applicant of the students from repaying the entire loan amount in case of any mishappening with the student, resulting in an inability to repay the loan.

    Union Bank of India Loan Margin Calculation

    Place of Study

    Loan Margin %

    To study in India

    0-15% (depending on course and loan amount)

    To study abroad

    0-15% (depending on course and loan amount)

    Often, students couldn’t afford the loan margin amount and get stuck in the middle of their education loan sanctioning process. That is why, we suggest students to process their education loan with WeMakeScholars because we can help you to reduce your loan margin. Get in touch with your financial officer at WeMakeScholars, to navigate easily through your education loan sanctioning process.

    Post Sanction Issues on Going with Union Bank

    On the surface level, the Union Bank education loan scheme might seem like a quite decent product considering it is offered by a public bank. But things don't run as smoothly as they seem at UB. Here are a few major issues many students have faced while trying to get their education loan sanctioned from Union Bank.

    Issue 1: Unreasonable Loan Margin

    As you have read about the Loan Margin offered by Union Bank in the above sections, you can see that the standard they offer is 15% which seems pretty reasonable, considering it is the same in almost all public banks, doesn't it?

    For you to understand a little better, let's start by understanding what exactly is a loan margin.

    A loan margin is the student's contribution to meet the total requirement of the amount needed for your education abroad. To put it simply, assume that you need 80 Lakhs to pursue your education at some university in the USA (Including all costs such as tuition fees, living expenses, and other miscellaneous costs). These costs are then verified by the bank using official proof of costs. After that, the calculations are made according to the loan margin (which the student has to pay to the bank) and you are given an estimation. So considering the loan margin is 15%, the bank can give up to 68 Lakhs to the student and the student has to arrange the 12 Lakhs by themselves.

    Many students would naturally assume that I don't need 80 Lakhs 68 Lakhs is more than enough for me to make it there. But what students fail to understand is that for the 68 lakhs to be disbursed into your account you will have to pay the bank the 12 Lakhs first. Otherwise, the disbursement won't happen.

    Coming to the main issue with the Union Bank Unsecured Education Loan product,

    If you go through with their unsecured education loan product, you can receive a maximum loan amount of up to 40 Lakhs. As we previously assumed that the total loan amount the student would require to study abroad is 80 Lakhs, this brings our loan margin up to a whopping 50%. Let's understand this better with a table.

    Expense Student’s portion- 50% Bank’s portion- 50% Total Sent to university or your account
    First yr fee 15 lacs 15 lacs 30 lacs
    First yr living exp 5 lacs 5 lacs 10 lacs
    Second yr fee 15 lacs 15 lacs 30 lacs
    Second yr living exp 5 lacs 5 lacs 10 lacs
    Total 40 lacs 40 lacs 80 lacs

    As you can see when you consider getting an unsecured loan from Union Bank of 40 Lakhs with your total requirement being 80 Lakhs, you would have to first arrange the 40 Lakhs all by yourself for the bank to contribute their part of the deal. A lot of people might think that 80 Lakhs might be a huge number and that you won't require as much. However, UB only offers unsecured loans to the universities on their prime list and most of the universities on their prime list are US-based universities. The average i20 amount is around 40 Lakhs. Considering that students want to pursue a 2-year course. The costs add up to 80 Lakhs.

    Issue 2: No Previsa disbursement

    The students who want to pursue their higher education abroad have certain financial conditions to fulfill before they are issued a visa. They need to pay the first year fees and make specific deposits such as:

    However, students are facing problems in dealing with Union Bank because they do not disburse the loans pre-visa and the students are required to have the amount disbursed to show all expenses before their visa is approved. What is the point of an education loan if the students don't aren't even able to apply for a VISA? Thus, students are no longer taking their loans with Union Bank and are instead seeking other banking institutions. For Australia, a loan from Union Bank can lead to visa rejection as well.

    Issue 3: Not getting moratorium period

    Besides, of course, there are so many other cases like this students who don’t get a moratorium period for the non-collateral loan and have to pay full interest from the very first day.

    So to summarize these are our recommendations if you are planning to get your education loan through Union Bank

    Students planning to study in Germany, Canada, the UK or Australia should avoid taking a loan from Union Bank because they do not release money to any student before the visa is processed. For Australia, the student can be denied a visa.

    If the student is planning to go to the USA, a 40 lakh non-collateral loan from Union Bank has a high margin requirement and In the case of larger loan amounts, security is required.

    However, if you need to pledge an asset as security, other banks may offer cheaper rates even though their interest rates are slightly higher than Union Bank. However, there are other options which are available in which 70-80 lakh loans can be availed without pledging any asset.