University of Essex Online today announces that postgraduate loans will be available for eligible online students from 1 August 2017.

Postgraduate student loans will greatly improve access to higher education for students wishing to gain subject-specific knowledge or to further their career with transferable workplace skills.

These loans are paid directly to the student, and students can choose how much to borrow (depending on the current maximum loan limit set by the Student Loans Company). Repayments only start once the student’s income reaches more than £21,000 a year and any outstanding balance is written off after 30 years.

University of Essex Online currently offers a wide range of 100% online postgraduate degree programmes including business, law, criminology and health. Every programme is also part-time, giving students the option to fit their education around their family and career commitments.

Nicola Pittman, Managing Director for University of Essex Online said: “We are delighted that postgraduate loans are now available towards the cost of our postgraduate programmes. This game-changing news will further our mission to make education more accessible by opening the door to postgraduate study for the first time for many people.”

University of Essex Online courses are delivered by Kaplan Open Learning, an experienced online learning provider. The University and Kaplan have developed their partnership since 2007 to offer high quality online courses.