The Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) has once again rolled out its annual Campus Invasion initiative, bringing its services directly to universities and colleges across the island during the SLB loan application period.

Executive Director of the SLB, Nickeisha Walsh, explained that the Campus Invasion allows students to access loan support without having to travel to Kingston.

“Our campus invasion, we normally roll that throughout the application period. We go to various university campuses across the island,” Walsh told JIS News in a recent interview.

She noted that during the week of August 25 to 29, the SLB was stationed at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Manchester.

“We did processing in NCU. We answered repayment questions; we answered application issues; we looked at where the applications are and provided guidance; we were there for one week. Another team was at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Western campus in Montego Bay, where we do the same thing,” she said.

Walsh emphasised that the Campus Invasion provides real-time services on-site.

“Those students who may want to traverse into Kingston, they don’t need to do that because we have scheduled a couple of days for the week or every other week, or probably some days in the month we’re on the location. So, they can drop off their application; they can upload their application; they can get real time service questions being answered without having to tap into the SLB resource at the location,” she said.

The SLB has already visited several campuses and will continue its schedule in the coming weeks.

“We were at the University of Technology (UTech) Jamaica from September 1 to 5, and we were at UWI, Mona from September 8 to 12. We are also at Bethlehem Teachers’ College. So, we have various campuses. We are in MICO University as well. We sometimes go to Caribbean Maritime University (CMU). It is depending on the week and the day. But we are all around the campuses supporting students,” Walsh said.

According to Walsh, this direct engagement often encourages students who may not have initially considered financing through the SLB.

“Some persons may not even be thinking about an SLB loan, but because we are there present serving and assisting, and sometimes that’s where we see the application intake increase,” she said.

She also highlighted the timeframe for the Campus Invasion. “We usually do this from June to the end of, sometimes even December, because sometimes we have late applicants or persons applying for the January semester,” she explained.

Importantly, Ms. Walsh explained that the Campus Invasion is distinct from the SLB’s wider public education campaign. “This is different from our regular public education, where we go into the high schools and talk about SLB,” she said.

 The Campus Invasion forms part of SLB’s broader strategy to ensure accessibility and to provide convenient, face-to-face support for students navigating the loan process.