Thanks, SLB, for your contribution

School has begun and many students are looking forward to the new school year. The Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) provides a window of opportunity for those wishing to pursue their dreams of a tertiary-level education but are facing financial difficulties.

Our 'If I only I knew: Tales of SLB' published on August 25 sparked some interesting feedback from our readers who shared their experiences.

J.T.told Outlook that, after taking a loan from the SLB for only one school year, she made it her mission to repay them almost immediately.

"I borrowed for one school year and owed $150,000, because I took exactly $116,125 from them. Still living at home fresh out of university, with an administrative job, I made roughly $45,000 after tax, and every month I paid them $20,000."

She finished paying them in full and became debt-free in less than two years. But some of her friends chose a different route. "Other friends delayed and did the minimum payment so they could take car loans or save for school. While I was more focused on clearing the debt, looking back, maybe I could've taken the delay strategy and bought a car earlier, for example." She added, "I'm just grateful I got the loan for that first year when I needed it."

A.C.took his loan in his second year at university as it seemed the most viable option to ease his financial burden.

He finally received a job 18 months after the scheduled loan repayment. "Even then, I could not maintain the monthly repayment fees and never started making payments until another nine months after. So I started repaying them two years and three months after the scheduled time. Since then, which is a year and half ago, I have been paying them around $25,000, just to clear my arrears." He admitted that he did not receive many calls or emails, just the initial email noting that he needed to start repayments.

A.M., unfortunately, could not relate to A.C., receiving countless calls and emails about making payments. "It is unfortunate that it took me three years after graduating university to find out important information such as, if you start repaying your loan while in school, you will avoid a 100 per cent interest, or that you are actually incurring interest while in school," she said.

It has been five years since she has been in contact with the SLB, having taken a loan of $460,000, and was sent a letter that she owed $1.2 million. "These people rub it in your face every day that you owe them money. I am one of those persons who believe in repaying loans and I was doing so based on my financial status. It was not always consistent or the required amount, but like many persons, getting a job that pays is difficult. I later started paying an amount consistently, but still not the required amount," she added.

She explained that the bureau contacted her and she was given a figure she could pay to avoid incurring penalties. She followed their instructions, only to be told by another loan supervisor that she needed to pay over $600,000 to get her account current and avoid being handed over to the collections agency.

After explaining that she would not be able to make that lump sum, she said the representative was rude, impolite and unprofessional, and she was sent to the collections agency.

The collections agency was no different and demanded $100, 000 per month. She told them that would not be possible because she only made $50,000. Her offer to pay a lower sum was refused by the agency.

"I have sent the SLB, as well as the collections agency, numerous emails with suggestions, and no one has acknowledged me in that regard, with the exception of a call from an SLB representative telling me if I don't pay the amount owed, my name and photo will be published in the local and international media," she said. She hopes that the nightmare will soon be over.

K.C., on the other hand, has expressed sincere concern about the media portraying the SLB as an "overbearing monstrous loan institution." His experience was quite different from that of A.M.

He tells us, "I took SLB for all four years of my study and I had no issues. When the time came to repay my loan, I was duly informed and assigned a loan officer. I borrowed approximately $600,000 and would pay $1.4 million, including interest, if I took six years to repay. I received quarterly updates on my payments and account balance."

He confessed that sometimes he fell behind in the payments, but the loan officer would send him email reminders. However, after a few years, he reviewed his quarterly statements and realised that, regardless of the amount he had paid on the loan, he was being charged a fixed interest rate based on the initial loan amount.

"I contacted my loan officer, who explained what was happening. It was then that I decided to repay the SLB with a vengeance, and within six months I was able to close my account. Today, I am SLB loan-free and have moved on to graduate studies. I thank the SLB for their contribution to my education," he said.

Names changed on request