FAITH Colleges, LandBank Support Education with 100% Interest-free Student Loans

Before school year 2020-2021 opened, uncertainty and fear among many parents and students ran high. After all, the past year had been undeniably difficult as families struggled over financial issues and job cuts as a result of a pandemic that has paralyzed economies around the globe. Deeply-ingrained as it is in the Filipino culture, education remains important and will always take precedence over most needs more so in the most difficult times.

Knowing this, FAITH Colleges continued to offer scholarships. But with the big number of students who needed help, the scholarship slots were not enough for everyone. The Institution then partnered with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) to boost the school’s capacity to implement a ‘study now, pay later’ scheme for its students.

The P3 billion national social investment package launched amidst the pandemic is offered to private institutions at a very low interest rate. FAITH Colleges, the only tertiary school in Batangas to be granted the loan program, started implementing the SNPL program in the first semester of SY2020-2021, and continues to extend the program to cover the second semester. FAITH Colleges executive vice president Juan P. Lozano said, “FAITH is subsidizing the fixed interest rate to give parents peace of mind, knowing that their child can continue studying without the added burden of paying loan interests.”

Today, a large part of FAITH Colleges’ student population enjoys the loan program with 100% coverage of tuition fees payable in 36 months, totally free of interest.

Mr. Lozano adds that for the coming SY2021-2022, FAITH Colleges will be launching its own interest-free Study Now Pay Later program that will be supported by an endowment fund from a private educational foundation. “An initial P30 million will be earmarked for this interest-free bearing program. With the help of our Alumni organization and the students who will be benefiting from this program, we hope to sustain this education mission in perpetuity,” Mr. Lozano declared.

In photo: FAITH Colleges and LANDBANK executives sign the MOA for the ACADEME (ACcess to Academic Development to Empower the Masses towards Endless Opportunities) program