Loan Activation

  • Further Extension of Interest-free Deferral of Student Loan Repayment

    The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council has approved to further extend the current interest-free deferral of student loan repayment for one year from 1 April 2024 until 31 March 2025. Please click here to learn more.

  • Student loan borrowers are required to repay their loan, which shall normally commence on 1 December of the year of graduation or when the course has officially ended, until the loan and interest accrued thereon are fully repaid. The first instalment of loan repayment will normally fall due on 1 January or 1 July (if opted for deferred activation of loan repayment) of the following year of graduation. (applicable to Tertiary Student Finance Scheme - Publicly-funded Programmes (TSFS), Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students (FASP) & Non-means-tested Loan Scheme for Full-time Tertiary Students (NLSFT))

    • If student loan borrowers have not received the "Notice of Commencement of Repayment" or "Demand of Repayment" within six months after their graduation or the course has officially ended, they should notify the Student Finance Office (SFO) in writing immediately.

  • With a view to facilitating better financial management of student loan borrowers, loan borrowers who have obtained loans and without any loan accounts repaying with quarterly repayment arrangement under other financial assistance/loan schemes administered by the SFO are required to repay the loans and the interest accrued in full by monthly instalments. The loan borrowed and the interest accrued thereon are repayable in 15 years ("Repayment Period") by 180 equal monthly instalments; or in a shorter Repayment Period by equal monthly instalments as agreed by the SFO. #

    1. More details on Tertiary Student Finance Scheme - Publicly-funded Programmes (TSFS) and Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students (FASP)

      If student loan borrowers:

      • cease to be registered full-time students of the recognised or locally-accredited programme;
      • withdraw or are suspended from or cease or defer studies in the recognised or locally-accredited programme; 
      • transfer from the institution where they have borrowed the TSFS or FASP loan to another institution; or
      • have not completed the programme for any reasons,

      they should notify the SFO in writing immediately and repay the loan in a lump sum or by equal instalments; and if by instalments over a revised Repayment Period, also the interest accrued at the rate of 1% per annum. The length of the Repayment Period, its commencement date, and any repayment arrangements shall be decided by the SFO.

    2. More details on Non-means-tested Loan Scheme for Full-time Tertiary Students (NLSFT)

      If student loan borrowers:

      • cease to be registered full-time students of the recognised programme; or
      • withdraw or are suspended from or cease or defer studies in the recognised programme; or
      • transfer from the institution where they have borrowed the NLSFT loans to another institution; or
      • have not completed the programme for any reasons,

      they should notify the SFO in writing immediately and repay the loan in a lump sum or by equal instalments; and if by instalments over a revised Repayment Period, also the interest accrued at the prevailing interest rate per annum. The length of the Repayment Period, its commencement date, and any repayment arrangements shall be decided by the SFO.

    3. More details on Non-means-tested Loan Scheme for Post-secondary Students (NLSPS)

      Student loan borrowers are required to repay their NLSPS loan upon graduation or when the course has officially ended, or lapse of six years from the first disbursement of the loan, whichever is the earliest, until the loan and interest accrued thereon are fully repaid.

      If student loan borrowers:

      • cease to be registered full-time students of locally-accredited self-financing programmes;
      • withdraw or are suspended from or cease or defer studies;
      • transfer from the institution where they have borrowed the NLSPS loans to another institution; or
      • have not completed the programme for any reasons,

      they should notify the SFO in writing immediately and repay the loan in a lump sum or by equal instalments; and if by instalments over a revised Repayment Period, also the interest accrued at the prevailing interest rate per annum. The length of the Repayment Period, its commencement date, and any repayment arrangements shall be decided by the SFO.

    4. More details on Extended Non-Means-Tested Loan Scheme (ENLS)

      The loan borrowed and the interest accrued thereon are repayable:

      • upon graduation; 
      • after student loan borrowers have completed the relevant programme(s) / course(s) of study; 
      • upon achievement of the requisite number of credits / modules for student loan borrowers’ programme of study; 
      • upon achievement of the required credits for completion of the courses offered by the Hong Kong Metropolitan University; or
      • lapse of six years from the first disbursement of the ENLS loan,

      whichever is the earliest.

      If student loan borrowers:

      • decide to withdraw from/cease/suspend/defer their studies;
      • transfer to another programme/institution; 
      • cannot complete their programme(s)/course(s) of study for whatever reason(s); 
      • realise that their institution fails to provide the programme(s) under application to them for whatever reason(s); 
      • are no longer the eligible student of the programme / institution concerned for whatever reason(s),

      after the SFO has disbursed the loan to them or issued to them by cheque(s) made payable to their institution or its operator/local agency (if applicable), they are required to notify the SFO in writing immediately and repay the loan in a lump sum or by equal instalments; and if by instalments over a revised Repayment Period, also the interest accrued at the prevailing interest rate per annum. The length of the Repayment Period, commencement date, and any repayment arrangement of the ENLS Loan shall be decided by the SFO.

      If student loan borrowers are entitled to obtain course fee reimbursement under CEF or tuition fee reimbursement of the DAE/DYJ/FAEAEC programme, the SFO may apply the reimbursement amount to offset their ENLS loan(s) immediately upon the disbursement of the fee reimbursement. The remaining balance of their ENLS loan(s) (if any) and the interest accrued thereon shall be repaid in the manner as mentioned above. For details, please refer to paragraph 6 of the Application Guidance Notes (ENLS 140).

  • Student loan borrowers may have a rough estimation on the repayment amount by using the Calculator on the "SFO E-link" online platform.

  • To request for early lump sum / partial repayment or restructuring repayment period of the loan, student loan borrowers may send in their early lump sum / partial repayment or restructuring repayment period request in writing by post, fax, e-mail or via the “SFO E-link” online platform (“SFO E-link” online platform is applicable for early lump sum / partial repayment only). Verbal request would not be accepted.

    1. For terms and conditions for requesting early lump sum / partial repayment or restructuring repayment period of the loan under respective loan schemes, please refer to:-