University students loan scheme

INTEREST FREE STUDENT LOAN SCHEME

The Student Loans Division in the Ministry of Education implements, Interest Free Students Loan Scheme (IFSLS) for the Sri Lankan Students who have passed G.C.E (Advanced Level) Examination.The opportunity is given to follow selected degree Programmes accredited and at all the Non State Higher Education are approved by the Ministry of Education.

Qualified Applicants for 8th Intake

Students who have passed G.C.E. (Advanced Level) Examination in the years 2020, 2021 & 2022.

How to Apply

Qualified applicants should use the online system facilitated through www.studentloans.mohe.gov.lk website for submission of applications.
Online Applications can be submitted from 9 th September, 2024 to 20 th October, 2024.

Minimum Eligibility Criteria

  1. Having obtained simple (S) passes for all the three subjects in one and same sitting and not exceeding three sittings at the G.C.E. (A/L) held in 2020, 2021, 2022 and
  2. Having minimum of 30 marks for the Common General test at any sitting described in above (i) or re-sitting for the Common General Test in the year 2020 subject to the condition of maximum three sittings and
  3. a) Simple (S) pass for General English in G.C.E (Advanced Level) or Simple (S) pass for English for G.C.E (Ordinary Level).
  4. The age of the Candidates should be 26 years or below by 10 th October, 2024

Other Qualifications

Please refer the Guide Book in www.studentloans.mohe.gov.lk

Selection Criteria

Selection of students for relevant course is based on,

  1. The minimum qualifications that the applicant has to fulfill.
  2. The preferences given by the applicant for degree courses.
  3. Number of seats granted for each degree programme by the relevant Non-State Higher Education Institutes
  4. When the number of applications received exceeds the seating capacity for each degree programme at the relevant institute, the selection will be done on the merit order of of Z-score obtained at the G.C.E (A/L) examination by the applicants.

Maximum loan amounts

Maximum loan amount for four year degree programmes offered under the Intrest Free Student Loan Scheme from 8th intake.


Subject Stream
Maximum Loan Amount (Rs.)
1 Humanities and Social Sciences 800,000
2 Management and Commerce 900,000
3 Science (Biological / Bio Medical)
i. Science (Chemical) 1,200,000
ii. Science (Physical) 1,000,000
4 Engineering and Technology
i. Engineering 1,500,000
ii. Bio Technology 1,000,000
iii. Engineering Technology 1,000,000
5 Information and Communication Technology
i. Bachelor of Computer Science 800,000
ii. Bachelor of Science 1,000,000

Maximum loan amount for four year degree programmes offered under the Intrest Free Student Loan Scheme from 8th intake.


Subject Stream
Maximum Loan Amount (Rs.)
1 Humanities and Social Sciences 600,000
2 Management and Commerce 600,000
3 Engineering and Technology 800,000
4 Information and Communication Technology
iii. Bachelor of Computer Science 600,000
iv. Bachelor of Science 800,000

* Stipend loan of Rs. 75000/= per year

How to obtain loans

Ministry of Education recommends selected students to Banks Banks to grant loans and the students should submit their loan application with two guarantors.

First guarantor is one if the parents or guardian

Second guarantor should be a person with income acceptable by the Bank

Economic status of the guarantors will not be considered for this loan scheme.
Payments will be done semester wise as per the recommendation of the Ministry of Education considering the progress of studies.

Responsibility of Students

All the students who are facilitated under the Interest Free Students Loan Scheme should get minimum of general pass (“C” pass) for each and every subjects of the degree programme and have to maintain 80% of attendance in their study hours.

How to repay

The total loan period is 12 years.
The repayment of the loan should be started after study period and one-year grace period.

Period of Degree Programmes Grace Period
Commencement of repayment and
Number of Installments
3- years 1- years After 4 years 96 equal installments
within 8 years
4- years 1- years After 5 years 84 equal installments
within 7 years

Non State Higher Education Institutes under IFSLS

No Non State Higher Education Institutes
1. Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology Guarantee Ltd- SLIIT (Malabe & Matara Branch)
ii. National School of Business Management- NSBM
iii. CINEC Campus – CINEC
iv. Sri Lanka Institute of Buddhist Academy -SIBA
v. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka- ICASL
vi. SANASA Campus Ltd- SANASA
vii. Horizon College of Business and Technology Ltd – HORIZON
viii. KAATSU Highly Advanced Medical Technology Training Centre-KIU
ix. SLT Campus (Pvt) Ltd., - SLTC
x. SAEGIS Campus (Private) Limited– SAEGIS
xi. Esoft Metro Campus (Pvt) Ltd., -ESOFT
xii. Aquinas College of Higher Studies – AQUINAS
xiii. Institute of Chemistry Ceylon –ICHEM
xiv. International College of Business Technology – ICBT (Colombo & Kandy Branches)
xv. Benadict XVI Catholic Institute – BCI
xvi. Royal Institute Colombo (Pvt) Ltd. - RIC
xvii. Nagananda International Institute of Buddhist Studies -NIIBS
xviii. Business Management School (BMS)