The American University of Beirut

Eligibility 

To qualify for the loan, the student should be:

-         A current financial aid recipient

-         Lebanese

-         Undergraduate, Junior level and above, or a medical student (click here for detailed class levels)

-         Showing a satisfactory academic progress (not on probation 2)

The Program

The new loan program has special benefits to AUB students, including:

-         a waiver of the loan application fees

-         Minimal guarantee conditions, whereby a personal guarantee is sufficient

-         Free life insurance granted with the loan.

Loan currency: Lebanese Pounds

Interest Rate: 3 percent

Grace Period: 1 year after graduation

Repayment Period: up to 10 years following the grace period, however the students start paying the interest only (not the principal) as soon as the loan is disbursed during the years of study and the grace period.

As an alternative to the above, the student may choose to settle the entire loan amount by opening a marginal account upon graduation that will generate an interest of 3% to cover the equivalent interest and other charges borne on the loan amount during the year following the graduation date of the student. At the end of one year following the graduation date of the student, the marginal account amount will cover the principal amount that was borrowed by the student during his/her years of study. Once the student opens this marginal account he/she does not have to show up at the Bank at any time later since the two accounts will automatically close simultaneously.

Applying to the Loan

All eligible students will be sent an email during the loan processing period informing them about the loan amount that they can apply for.

The loan is optional for those eligible students and therefore students can accept or reject the loan by filling an Online Consent Form. Rejecting the loan does not affect in any way the students' eligibility for the financial aid grant they are receiving.

The students who accept the loan will be able to select in the form, by order of preference, the banks from which they wish to receive their loan. Students will then receive an email from FAO describing detailed procedures to follow. FAO will, to the extent possible, ensure that the students are granted their student loan from their preferred bank.

The students who do not want the loan would still need to fill the form in order to inform us of their decision and whether they wish to receive future loan offers of upcoming years or not.

Bank Requirements

The bank will require from the student to provide for a personal guarantee in favor of the bank in connection with the student loan. The student pays the loan’s interest of 3% per annum of the value of the student loan.

The stamp duties are expected to be within the following range for each of the following documents:

• LL 10,000 stamp duty on the loan for each borrowing year, which shall be paid by the student on an annual basis until a final repayment schedule has been executed by the student;
• LL 10,000 stamp duty for the personal guarantee.

For more information please contact the Financial Aid Office, ext 3164.