Investment Plan for Europe provides support for student financing in Germany

The European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed a guarantee agreement with CHANCEN eG covering a portfolio of up to €30 million of income sharing agreements (ISAs) to support students in Germany wishing to invest in their studies and upgrade their skills. The agreement is backed by the EFSI Skills & Education Guarantee Pilot, a debt financing initiative under the Investment Plan for Europe launched in 2020 to stimulate investments in education, training and skills. With an ISA, students only start paying for their education after they get a job and earn above a pre-determined minimum income threshold. This model removes potential financial barriers of accessing education, while aligning everyone’s incentives towards helping students acquire the right skills to secure employment opportunities. Thanks to this agreement, CHANCEN aims to substantially expand its ISA offering, with three times more students expected to be supported, and to broaden the scope of its operation by extending its financing to cover students’ living expenses from 2022 onwards. Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, said: “Providing support to young Europeans is a fundamental aim of this Commission and goes to the heart of NextGenerationEU. Thanks to financial backing from the Investment Plan for Europe’s skills and education pilot, the European Investment Fund is helping social business CHANCEN provide financing to three times as many students in Germany as before. I believe that with schemes like this, we will be able to achieve an inclusive and sustainable recovery.” The Investment Plan for Europehas mobilised €546.5 billion in investments so far, benefitting more than 1.4 million of small and medium-sized enterprises. A press release is available here.