Financially challenged students can finally have a sigh of relief after the Higher Education Students’ Financing Board (HESFB) extended the deadline within which undergraduates and diploma-seekers may apply for tuition loans.
In a notice published in local dailies, HEFSB has set the new deadlines for applications as being 5th and 29th August for applicants intending to apply for undergraduate funding or Diploma funding, respectively, instead of 22nd July for both.
Prospective beneficiaries may apply online at www.hesfb.go.ug or access physical application forms from any Centenary Bank branch, participating institutions of higher education or HESFB’s offices at Plot 1 Lourdel Road, 7th Floor Lourdel Towers in Nakasero.
However, a good number of students freshmen that Campus Bee spoke to expressed dismay at the mystery in which this loan scheme is shrouded. It has also been widely criticized by the students who complain that it is discriminative as only applicants successfully admitted for select courses are eligible to apply for the loans.
Successful applicants are expected to pay back this money in manageable installments after graduation, as soon as they find employment.
Some students, however, have expressed ignorance regarding how HESFB would recover the funds from certain categories of beneficiaries for example those who may go out of the country as soon as they graduate, or in the event that beneficiaries fail to get employment, or, God forbid, they die before paying back.
