Concluding discussion
Using a sample data of 5000 randomly selected borrowers from four representative public sector banks in India, we studied the micro level risk of education loan and identified key risk factors of such loans across various geographies and constitutions. Our study reveals some interesting facts about education loan defaults in India. We find that male borrowers are 1.42 times safer than their female counterparts. The higher the age of the borrower, the higher is the chance of default. Married borrowers are riskier than unmarried ones. The likelihood of default is lower if the loan is secured and the borrower’s own contribution (or borrower margin) is higher. Borrowers with security are 1.5 times more likely to remain solvent than those without security. As age of the student increases, so does the likelihood of default (due to increasingfinancial commitments). The likelihood of default is lower if the loan is secured and the borrower’s own contribution (or borrower margin) for financing the course is higher. The longer the repayment period, the lower is the chance of default. These results have important implications on loan appraisal and credit monitoring by the banks.