The Student Revolving Loan Fund which is known as the SRLF or the Fund replaced the Higher Education Loan Fund when it was established in 1977 under the Student Revolving Loan Fund Act, 1976-20. Its purpose was to provide funding to eligible Barbadians for priority areas of study and continues to be to increase the number of qualified persons. Administration of the Fund moved from the Tertiary Section of the Ministry of Education as was the case for the previous entity to a Management Committee.
The Fund secured three loans from the Inter-American Development Bank and with each loan agreement expanded its focus. The first loan of US$800 000 was for on lending to eligible Barbadians to pursue studies at the undergraduate level in areas which were considered crucial for the economic and social development of the country. The loan ceiling was Bds$30 000 and the maximum repayment period ten years. The Fund had a staff of three and depended on a financial agent for accounting and financial support.
The second loan of US$2.0 million was disbursed over the period February 1984 to 1990. It allowed the Fund to expand and modify its programme to include studies at the post secondary, technical and vocational levels at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, the Barbados Community College and the National Training Board as well as at the graduate level. The Fund changed its financial agent to the Barbados National Bank and increased its staff to five.
The third stage of the Fund’s development witnessed the disbursement of a final loan of US$6.8 million during the period April 1990 to 1996. It became a self-contained unit with additional staff members being hired to manage its finances and the computation of its operations. The maximum loan amount increase to Bds$50 000 and the interest rate moved from 6% to 8%. In 1990, the Fund also established a Guidance and Placement Unit to serve as a liaison between the job market and potential student borrowers.
From 1996 to March 2004, the Fund depended on Government to provide financial assistance for new loans but became self-financing thereafter. The Fund lowered its interest rate for new loans to 6% in 2005, and in 2009 a variable interest rate was implemented and is tied at 1.5% above the central bank savings rate.