More than 12,000 college and vocational-technical students across the country have benefitted from the Social Security System’s educational loan facility that released a total of P148.64 million in 2012, a press release from SSS said.

SSS assistant vice president for Lending and Asset Management Ma. Luz Generoso said the SSS expects more members to borrow this year under the SSS Educational Assistance Loan Program, which has nearly P7 billion in funds available for the initiative.

The pension fund earmarked a total of P3.5 billion for the SSS Educ-Assist program, which was launched during the Labor Day celebration last year.

The national government chipped in P3.5 billion more as counterpart funding, the press release said.

Generoso said Educ-Assist loan disbursements last year for 11,790 college enrollees totaled P145.84 million, while another P2.8 million was released for 398 students taking up voc-tech programs.

Recent adjustments in Educ-Assist guidelines have widened the field of eligible borrowers, although the loan program remains intended for those earning low or minimum wages. Initially, only active SSS members with a monthly income of P10,000 or below may borrow.

Beneficiaries of Educ-Assist loans may be the SSS members themselves, their legal spouse or dependent children, while unmarried members can designate their siblings, including half-brothers or half-sisters, as beneficiaries of the loan program. However, only one beneficiary is allowed per SSS member, the press release said.

Maximum loan releases every semester or trimester are pegged at P15,000 for college degree programs and P7,500 for voc-tech courses. Similar to a Study Now-Pay Later scheme, the loan payment will only start one year after graduation or from the date of the last loan release, at an interest rate of about three percent per annum.

Members will repay the loan within five years for college courses and three years for voc-tech programs, the press release said.*

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