College education is an expensive proposition. More often than not students have to take recourse to student loans to finance their numerous requirements of college life. Sometimes however, even these loans fail to provide financial relief, especially under certain financial constraints. Students opt for part time jobs too but there is a limit to the number of hours that they can devote to their job and consequently the money that they can earn.

Student hardship loans are beneficial to students under these circumstances. First you must understand what a student hardship loan is and how you can avail it.

In order to help students in dire financial situations, these loans were introduced in the year 1998. Students can apply for this loans ranging from GBP 100 to a maximum of GBP 500 and those students who have exhausted their options in student loans are eligible for it.

The application rules state that you can apply no more than once, for a student hardship loan in an academic year. This application must be put in one month before the conclusion of the year. The student services department of the university is where you should apply for the loan.

In terms of eligibility, those students who are in real financial trouble can avail this hardship loan. A student will have to prove that he is left with no other financial option and if he cannot get the loan he may have to give up his studies. Thereafter it is up to the college or university to decide whether or not to grant you the loan. Once you get the loan it can be used for travel, books or to meet living costs.

Repayment of this loan is similar to other student loans. The hardship loan has to be paid by you along with the other loans that you have.

There are hardship funds too that again, are given to students facing acute financial hardships. However, the difference lies in the fact that these are not loans but grants and therefore no repayment is required. At the same time, these hardship funds are more difficult to acquire, as they are set-aside for the truly needy students.

While considering your application for a hardship fund, your financial status as well as the course that you are taking will be kept in mind to determine whether or not you are eligible for the fund. The amount of the hardship fund is higher than student hardship loans and ranges anywhere between GBP 500 and GBP 3500. It is up to the student to avail the fund in installments or as a bulk amount.

The hardship loans and funds are initiatives that are designed for those students who in spite of availing the different kinds of student loans find themselves in financial trouble, and at the same to ensure that these students desirous of continuing their studies are not deprived of the opportunity of getting a college education.