SLB clarifies fee charges

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I DRAW reference to a letter to the Editor by Patrick Maitland headlined 'Excessive Fees of SLB' published on May 25, 2001. Mr. Maitland maintains that the Students' Loan Bureau has been charging poor Jamaican students unnecessary financial charges. He cites these charges as being the fees for application forms and loan processing and insurance.

I wish to point out that what the Bureau provides for students desirous of applying for loans is an application package. This comprises a detailed 16-page application document, (not unlike what obtains when applying for a regular loan at a commercial bank), and a comprehensive student loan handbook, which outlines to the student, the step-by-step process for accessing SLB loan financing. Mr. Maitland would have quickly realised that for $250, he was not receiving a mere 'application form', but a substantial application package.

The student loan processing fees of $2,500 to which Mr. Maitland refers are only applicable to students approved for loan financing, and not for students whose applications have been denied. The same applies in the case of the loan insurance fees that are $5 per $1000 borrowed. We wish to point out that students are now paying significantly less in loan processing and insurance fees in comparison to what they had to pay to the commercial banks.

A staff complement of just over 40 handles in excess of 6,000 student loan applications annually. The SLB boasts a staff/student ratio of 1 staffer to every 154 students applying for financing. Our productivity and performance track record speaks for itself: More than eight out of every 10 students applying every year for SLB loan financing are successful, and we continue to strive for perfection, guided by a policy that no Jamaican student in need of financing for higher education will be denied.

The SLB is a non-profit organisation, and seeks not to make financial gain from the fees we ask our student customers to contribute towards the provision of their application packages and to facilitate the processing and insurance of their loans.

That would run counter to our philosophy and modus operandi, to which we have remained true for the past 30 years.

I am, etc.,

DEL WHITE

Public Education Officer,

Students' Loan Bureau

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