Sharing the burden with parents
Her husband passed away early, Ms. Tran Thi Thao (Hamlet 6, Phuc Loc Commune, Nghe An) raised her three children alone. In addition to a few sao of rice fields, she works for hire but her life is still difficult. When her son passed the entrance exam to the Information Technology major at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, she was both happy and worried, because money for her child's university education was a big burden that kept her upless for many nights.
Having received information from the Savings and Loan Team about the preferential credit program for STEM learners, she became the first customer to access this loan source from Nghi Loc Social Policy Bank Transaction Office, with a total amount approved for loan during the student's study period of 156 million VND. In the 2025-2026 school year, her family was disbursed 78 million VND to cover tuition, living expenses and other study expenses, with a lending interest rate of 4.8%/year.
"Fortunately, thanks to this program, I don't know how to manage to have money to send my child to Hanoi to study" - Ms. Thao emotionally shared.
Present at Anh Son Social Policy Bank Transaction Office to complete the loan disbursement, Mr. Nguyen Viet Duong and Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (Anh Son Dong commune, Nghe An province) said that when their son received the notice of admission to Vinh University, the couple was both happy and worried. The family's main source of income depends on a few sao of rice fields and pig farming. Tuition alone, shopping for belongings, renting a room... have cost more than 20 million VND, making them worried.
The boy of the couple was admitted to the technical economics major, had good academic performance for 3 years of high school and had an average score of 8 or higher in Math, Physics, Chemistry in grade 12, so he was eligible for preferential loans.
With a study period of 4.5 years, Mr. Duong's family received a loan of 333 million VND, disbursed annually or quarterly, with an interest rate of 4.8%/year. The amount of 74 million VND from the first disbursement, the couple used to pay for the first semester's tuition, buy learning equipment and pay their son's monthly living expenses.
"My child has just finished school and started working before having to pay this loan, so we have much less pressure to go..." - Mr. Duong excitedly said.
Expanding lending subjects
According to regulations, to be eligible for a preferential credit program for STEM learners under Decision No. 29/2025/QD-TTg, first-year students must ensure: All 3 years of high school have achieved a good or higher academic performance; or the average score in grade 12 for Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology is 8 or higher.
For HSSV from the second year onwards, the average learning results of the subjects must be excellent or better in the following school year. Master's and doctoral students are eligible for loans when recognized by higher education institutions according to regulations. The VBSP conducts lending through households; the representative of the household is the borrower and the VBSP Transactions.
In case the household no longer has members who are 18 years old or older or the remaining members are unable to work or do not have full civil act capacity, the learners can directly borrow capital from the VBSP.
Deputy Director of Nghe An Province's Bank for Social Policies Branch Hoang Son Lam informed: "If the previous HSSV loan program under Decision No. 157/2007/QD-TTg had a maximum loan amount of VND4 million/month/person, the preferential credit program for STEM learners under Decision No. 29/2025/QD-TTg has a much higher loan level. The maximum loan amount includes all tuition fees as confirmed by the school, along with living expenses and maximum tuition fees of VND 5 million/month. Of course, the educational conditions of beneficiaries are also required to be higher.
This is a new preferential credit program. Therefore, the Nghe An Provincial Bank for Social Policies Branch has urgently promoted new points and loan conditions to each trust unit and the Savings and Loan Group in villages and hamlets.
After less than 2 months of implementation, Nghe An Province Bank for Social Policies has resolved loan applications for 99 customers, with a total amount of nearly 8 billion VND, promptly supporting borrowers to pay the fees at the beginning of the school year. Some Transaction Houses have a large number of borrowers such as Anh Son, Thanh Chuong, Yen Thanh, Quy Hop...
With this loan program, capital is disbursed for each school year or semester. The repayment period is double the loan period, plus a maximum of 1 year of job search after the student graduates. The lending interest rate under the program is lower than the interest rate of the HSSV lending program according to Decision No. 157/2007/QD-TTg and the lending program for poor households.
