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Loans for students with the government guarantee

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Loans for students with the government guarantee are no longer provided. To learn more about study and student loans with the government guarantee visit the ALTUM website.

Please note that monthly payments for existing loans may change depending on the 6-month Euribor rate! Current information on the value of the Euribor rate is updated daily by the Bank of Latvia.

   
Collateral on the Loan

As collateral on the loan can be:

  • Guarantee of a private person
  • A pledge of a real estate
  • Municipality guarantee
  • Securities

A guarantee is not required if:

  • The student is an orphan or has lost the custody of both parents and has not reached the age of 24
  • Person with 1st or 2nd category of disability

Cabinet Regulation

Criteria for Guarantors
  • A private person of full age with regular income at least in the amount of the minimum salary established by the government
  • If the guarantor has loans, the permissible sum total of loan payments must be less than 40 % of their income

Issues to be considered:

  • If the person provides guarantees for several people that are not children of the guarantor, the income must exceed the minimum salary multiplied by the number of students.
  • If the person applying for the loan has a loan repayment debt for the debt received earlier, the total sum of the debt is equal to the amount from two to ten minimum salaries established by the government and the delay of repayment exceeds 60 days, the income of the guarantor must not be less than two minimum salaries established by the government.
Period of Loan Repayment

The borrower shall repay loans exceeding the total amount of EUR 1,423 to the credit institution within 10 years.

The borrower shall repay loans that do not exceed the total amount of EUR 1,423 to the credit institution within 5 years.

Interest rate on the loan

The interest rate depends on the year the loan agreement was concluded. Detailed information on the interest rates (LAT) of study and student loans.

Academic leave of absence

During the academic leave of absence the bank suspends the payment of the loan sum to the student. In order to apply for an academic leave of absence, the student must first apply to their higher educational establishment for approval. After approval from the higher educational establishment which informs SEB bank on the granting of the academic leave of absence, the student must visit bank in person and fill out a form.

SEB shall renew the payment of the loan sum to the student only after the receipt of information on the termination of the academic leave of absence from the educational institution.

Repayment of the principal sum after studies

The repayment of the principal sum and interest shall commence only in the 12th month after graduation.

If the student terminates studies prior to graduation, the repayment of the principal sum must be commenced starting from 3rd month.

Detailed information on the interest rates (LAT) of study and student loans.

  Study Loan Student Loan

Loan Payments

Twice per year, by the transfer of the sum to the account of the higher educational institution.

Monthly (except for July and August), by the transfer of the sum to the account of the student held with SEB bank.

Repayment of the loan during studies

The principal sum and interest on the loan do not have to be paid during the studies (including study breaks) or for 11 months after the graduation.

During the studies the borrower must repay only the interest on the loan by applying the interest rate (LAT) of the credit institution auctioned during the year when the loan agreement was concluded.

Loan repayment incentives

  • During pregnancy and maternity leave repayment of the principal sum and the interest on the loan is deferred.
  • Repayment of the principal sum and the interest on the loan is deferred during the child care leave (before the child reaches the age of 1.5 years), if the borrower does not work full time.
  • If the borrower continues to study on an accredited curriculum, the repayment of the principal sum and the interest on the loan is deferred.
  • If the lender receives unemployed status, the repayment of the principal sum is deferred for up to 2 years.
  • During pregnancy and maternity leave repayment of the principal sum and the interest on the loan is deferred.
  • Repayment of the principal sum and the interest on the loan is deferred during the child care leave (before the child reaches the age of 1.5 years), if the borrower does not work full time.
  • If the borrower continues to study an accredited curriculum the repayment of the principal sum is deferred, meanwhile interest payments must be continued.
  • If the lender receives unemployed status, the repayment of the principal is deferred for up to 2 years.
  • If borrower have had a child and have graduated the higher educational institution with a diploma, he must submit the birth certificate of the child to SEB banka and 30% of your loan balance may be cancelled.

Borrow deliberately, assessing your capacity to repay the loan.

Service1 Fee
Repayment of the loan before maturity Free of charge
Preparing additional copies of the agreement and/or schedule 3.00 EUR
Changes to the loan agreement on the customer's initiative2 15.00 EUR

1 The fee for issuing of references (per document) is set in “Processing of Customer's documents“ section.

2 The commission fee must be paid on the day the agreement or amendments are signed.

Impact of Euribor changes on loans for student

The interest rate for study and student loans is determined in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No 220 "Procedure for Granting, Repayment and Cancellation of Study Loans and Student Loans Financed by a Credit Institution with a Guarantee in the Name of the State".

According to the Cabinet of Ministers' Regulations and the loan agreement, the interest rate consists of two parts – the base rate and the mark-up rate. 

While the mark-up rate remains the same throughout the whole period of the loan, the base rate for study and student loans is fixed once every six months. In particular, a new EURIBOR (Euro Interbank Offered Rate) is fixed on the first working day of the first month of each half-year. It is set at the average 6-month EURIBOR rate of the previous week. 

EURIBOR rates have been negative for almost the last seven years. But in 2022, the European Central Bank started to raise EURIBOR rates to slow down the rapid inflation in the euro area. As a result, a large proportion of borrowers have seen their monthly payments increase.

For all loans with a variable interest rate.

Yes, student loans are subject to special conditions in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Cabinet of Ministers' Regulations. In particular, if the applicable interest rate (the sum of the base rate and the mark-up rate) is higher than 5% per annum during the relevant period, the borrower pays 5% per annum. The difference between the rates is covered by the state budget. 

If the interest rate differential has arisen, it will be automatically paid by the State budget on the due date for repayment of the loan and interest. Therefore, the borrower does not need to take any additional action. 

The previously mentioned Cabinet Regulations apply to both study and student loans.
 
The conditions do not apply if the student does not complete the studies and is withdrawn from the list of students.

Yes. The interest rate differential, if any, referred to previously, will be automatically collected from the State budget on the due date for the repayment of the loan and interest, therefore no further action is required by the borrower. 

If you are subject to special interest rate conditions under the previously mentioned Cabinet Regulations, please note that the total interest rate and the total interest payment due are reflected in the information on your study or student loan available in your internet bank. It means that the difference, which is covered by the state budget, is not deducted from the information shown in the internet bank. The monthly interest payment the bank will charge to the borrower's account will therefore be lower than the one shown in the internet bank.