New Delhi, Aug 18 (INB) Education loan demand is increasingly being driven by students from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, which accounted for 86.5 per cent of applications received by education financing platform Kuhoo between January 2025 and July 2026, the firm said in a statement. Kuhoo said it received more than 2.5 lakh education loan applications worth Rs 7,500 crore during the period, highlighting growing demand for structured financing among students pursuing undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes. The data showed that only 13.5 per cent of loan applications came from Tier 1 markets, indicating that demand for higher education financing is increasingly spreading beyond major metropolitan centres. Uttar Pradesh led the states with 12.87 per cent of applications, followed by Maharashtra at 12.52 per cent. Karnataka accounted for 7.16 per cent, Bihar 6.91 per cent and Tamil Nadu 6.77 per cent, while Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Rajasthan also recorded significant demand, Kuhoo said. The platform’s data also pointed to a growing preference for career- and outcome-oriented programmes. Job training courses accounted for 41.70 per cent of disbursements, followed by MBA programmes at 29 per cent, online courses at 9.80 per cent, engineering at 5.50 per cent and medical education at 4.70 per cent. “Access to quality education should never be limited by financial constraints,” Kuhoo Founder and CEO Prashant A B honsle said, adding that educational aspirations were rising rapidly in India’s smaller cities and towns. He said students increasingly want financing that is transparent, accessible and aligned with their long-term academic and career goals. According to Kuhoo, the trends indicate a shift towards financing solutions that cater to diverse household income profiles as India’s higher education landscape becomes more career-focused. The company said it aims to simplify education financing and reduce dependence on family funding and traditional collateral-heavy lending models through customised financing solutions and flexible repayment structures.
