opportunities for university education are also available. In 2005, career training options requested included: school teacher, network administrator, computer science, systems analyst, human resource specialist, flight attendant, managerial, clinical lab technician, computer support technician, university faculty, political analyst, physician's assistant, physical and corrective therapy assistant, lawyer and judge. Potential loan recipients first complete a short training program on personal finance, budgeting and career planning and work with a loan administrator to select viable vocational and educational options for their particular region. Recipients are encouraged to work, if possible, during their schooling to provide for their own living expenses. Loans for tuition and fees are paid directly by the fund to the educational institution, further reducing the potential for mismanagement. During the course of the loan, recipients make small, manageable payments and participate in regular progress reviews. PEF loans average about $800 and the average training program of a Perpetual Education Fund loan recipient lasts 2.6 years. More substantial payments on the loan begin 90 days after graduation and the loans are usually scheduled to be paid off, with a modest 3-4% interest, over the course of 2–6 years. Recipients are also encouraged to make further contributions to the fund as their circumstances allow. Loan repayments and subsequent donations are channeled back into the fund corpus, making it a truly "perpetual" resource. Progress Less than 18 months after its inception, the PEF had disbursed more than 5,000 loans. Within three years (2004), approximately 10,000 young adults had received loans from the fund. By 2007, the numbers had climbed to 27,000 students in 39 different countries, and in late 2009, it was announced that over 40,000 people had received loans through the program. The Perpetual Education Fund has made loans to students in more than 40 countries, including Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Mexico, Mongolia, Peru, the Philippines, India, Fiji, Tonga, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria. See also Indian Placement Program LDS Philanthropies References External links Perpetual Education Fund - LDS Philanthropies Perpetual Education Fund Website Tad Walch, "An LDS Conference Outside the U.S.?", Deseret Morning News, 2007-04-03 Church Educational System Education finance in the United States Educational charities based in the United States Young people and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Projects established in 2001 2001 in Christianity 21st-century Mormonism