Education Loan Eligibility Calculator
Short answer. Banks do not size an education loan from your course cost. They size it from the lowest of three ceilings: what your security supports, what your co-applicant’s income can service, and what is left after margin money. This calculator works out all three and tells you which one is actually binding for you.
Indicative only. Every lender applies its own credit policy, and the institution you get into changes the answer more than anything else on this page. Interest during a moratorium is not included here.
Why your course cost is not the answer
Most applicants work out what their degree costs, add a buffer, and ask the bank for that number. The bank then works in the opposite direction. It calculates the most it can safely lend against your security, the most your co-applicant's income can repay, and the share of the cost it will not fund at all. Whichever of those is smallest is your loan. The course cost only sets the ceiling you are hoping to reach.
That is why two students admitted to the same programme in the same intake get very different sanction letters. It is also why the fix for a low sanction depends entirely on which ceiling is binding. Adding a second earning co-applicant does nothing if security is the constraint. Pledging a fixed deposit does nothing if income is the constraint. The calculator labels the binding one so you stop solving the wrong problem.
The three ceilings, and what moves each one
| Ceiling | What sets it | What raises it |
|---|---|---|
| Security | How much the lender will advance unsecured, plus the market value of anything you pledge | Tangible collateral, or an institution the lender funds without security |
| Income | Your co-applicant's free monthly income and the share of it a lender will commit to one EMI | A longer tenure, a lower rate, clearing existing EMIs, or a second co-applicant |
| Margin | The percentage of the cost the lender declines to fund | Scholarships, which usually count towards the margin, and your own savings |
On margin money, one detail is worth knowing before you plan around a scholarship: lenders commonly treat scholarship and assistantship money as part of the margin you were going to bring, rather than as a reduction in what they lend. SBI states this for its overseas scheme. So a scholarship often shrinks what you pay out of pocket without increasing the loan you qualify for. The section on margin money explained covers how this is applied at each disbursement.
Where the defaults in this calculator come from
The unsecured figure defaults to ₹7.5 lakh because that is the band where lenders typically move from an unsecured product to one requiring tangible security. It is a starting point, not a rule, and you should replace it with your own lender's number. SBI's overseas scheme runs from above ₹7.5 lakh up to ₹3 crore, with collateral free lending up to ₹50 lakh for students at select premier institutions, so the right value for you may be far higher than the default.
The income share defaults to 50 percent of free monthly income. Lenders do not publish a single figure for this and it moves with the co-applicant's profile, so treat it as a sense check rather than a promise. The tenure cap of 15 years matches the longest repayment period SBI publishes for its overseas scheme. For what the resulting monthly payment looks like, use the education loan EMI calculator, and if your loan has a moratorium, the balance you actually repay is higher than the amount sanctioned, which the moratorium calculator shows.
If the number comes back short
A shortfall is not automatically a reason to drop the plan, but it is a reason to deal with it before you accept an offer rather than after. The honest options are a smaller shortfall through a cheaper city or a shorter programme, a co-applicant with more headroom, collateral from a relative, or a lender with a different policy for your institution. For what the maximum realistically looks like across lenders, see the maximum education loan amount in India, and if collateral is your binding ceiling, education loans without collateral covers who lends and on what terms.
Scheme figures checked against SBI's published Global Ed-Vantage terms in September 2026. Lender policies change, so confirm the current terms before you apply.