SLB to disburse $8.8 billion in student loans this year
Published:Monday | February 17, 2025 | 10:23 AM
The Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) will, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, disburse $8.8 billion to 34 approved tertiary institutions on behalf of eligible applicants to fund their undergraduate or postgraduate studies.
This represents a little more than a $1.8-billion increase over the $6.9 billion allocated to fund tertiary studies last year.
Under the government’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) scholarships programme, the SLB has set aside $500 million for disbursement in the new financial year.
Students attending the University of Technology and Mico University College are eligible for STEM tertiary scholarships.
The programme was introduced in the 2023-2024 financial year.
The government has indicated that the programme is designed to improve human capacity development in STEM studies at the tertiary level, attracting, and maintaining qualified and high-potential graduates, and strengthening tertiary training capacity to develop an adequate supply of STEM graduates.
For the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the SLB is projecting a surplus of about $2.3 billion before taxation, a marginal decline over the approximately $2.4 billion for the 2024-2025 period.
Loan products
The programme is targeting 1,000 graduates over five cohorts, according to the Jamaica Public Bodies which sets out the budgetary allocations to public bodies. The document was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
At present, the SLB provides funding through three loan products. They are the targetted loans, pay-as-you-study loans, and postgraduate loans. The targeted loans comprise roughly 99 per cent of the loan portfolio, with beneficiaries being given an extended moratorium period before repayment.
The SLB said its other two loan products are designed to grow the portfolio and increase tertiary trained individuals.
In the meantime, the SLB is targeting the recovery of bad debts in the sum of $165 million in the new financial year. It intends to pull in some $4.1 billion in loan interest and penalty.
The lending agency provides funding support to various programmes of study, including business administration and social sciences, sciences, nursing, pharmacology, education, humanities, agriculture, engineering, information technology, hospitality and tourism management, law, maritime, medicine, sports education, and theology.