In this section you will find General Facts- Eligibility Facts- Students Obligations and Deferment Status Facts
General facts
ISA Amount: it is the cost of the educational tuition fee.
Income to share percentage (Income Share): it describes the % of the income you will have to pay as part of your ISA agreement during your repayment period. It varies by School. The Income Share is not an interest rate or annual percentage rate.
Income: it refers to the student’s gross income (including wage, self-employment or any freelance income) as well as any business income the student may get (including dividends). Income shall not include income from a spouse or disability income.
Payment Term (Number of Payments): it describes how long you have to pay a part of your income to satisfy the ISA terms. Typical ISA terms are between 32-48 months. It varies by school.
Minimum Salary Threshold: it means the minimum annual gross income, calculated monthly, below which the student does not have to make monthly payments. For example, if your Minimum Salary Threshold is €18.000 or €1.500 per month, you won't have to pay until you earn €1.500 per month or €18.000 per year.
Payment Cap: it is the maximum amount you can repay, it protects you in case you are doing extremely well!
Duration of the contract (Final Maturity Date): The contract is valid from the Signing Date and shall remain in force and effect until the earliest date to occur of the following (“Termination Date”):
(i) the Student reaches the Maximum Number of Payments (Payment term);
(ii) the student reaches the Payment Cap; or
(iii) the Final Maturity Date is reached (7 years from the signing date).
Deferment: Some circumstances qualify you to pause the repayment plan and defer the payments into the future. Examples for this are getting fired from your job or taking a maternity/paternity leave.
Eligibility facts
To qualify for Student Finance ISA, a student must:
- Be a legal resident and have a work permit of the country they are applying to.
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be enrolled in a Program eligible by StudentFinance.
- Good level of English
Student obligations and deferment status
In contrast to traditional loans, ISAs protect you from future income volatility after graduation. If you are unemployed or earn income below a certain threshold your payments will be €0. Furthermore, some circumstances qualify you to pause the repayment plan and defer the payments into the future.
Cases in which you get into a “Deferment Status”:- Employed and earning less than the Minimum Salary Threshold.
- Unemployed (not working but actively seeking employment)Note: You must provide proof of your efforts to seek employment
- The Student is not in the labor force (not working and not actively seeking employment; for instance, taking time off due to illness or to care for a child, relative or spouse).
Students Obligations
Your ISA contract is legally recognized under all jurisdictions. As such, regardless of the country, you currently or will reside in, you have the legal duty to report your income and make due payments, providing that you're earning at least the minimum salary threshold.
It is your responsibility and right to report to StudentFinance in all cases in which either your salary, country of residence or employment status changes. If you fail to do so, you are both subjected to potential financial losses (e.g. we will continue to deduct a percentage of your salary even when you stop working) and legal consequences.
Every time there is a change in your monthly income, you must go to StudentFinance’s dashboard and upload your new payslip. The updated monthly payments will then be calculated to reflect your current salary.
You must always report your monthly income to StudentFinance so that we can accurately calculate your monthly payments. If you fail to do so, we will automatically assume that you earn twice the minimum threshold and deduct a percentage of that amount from your bank account.
The ISA is a legally binding contract. By failing to make the required monthly payments, you are subjected to both legal and financial consequences. If you fail to make the required monthly payments you will be marked as defaulted in your credit report, you will also be liable for legal actions, and you can also be contacted by a third-party debt collector.
StudentFinance will undertake a payment reconciliation on an annual basis by reviewing all of your income streams based on multiple sources, such as your tax returns. If it turns out that you were overpaying or underpaying, you will need to make additional payments to cover the insufficient amounts or get a discount for your future payments, respectively.