SANTIAGO, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved 10 million U.S. dollars as student loans for higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The IDB said Wednesday that the Higher Education Finance Fund will be the operator of the program and will provide financing to local micro-finance institutions in order to offer long-term loans to students.

The program will benefit 3,000 students from Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic, where student loans are badly needed because of particularly weak public support toward higher education.

Loans will only be granted to students registered in recognized learning institutions and in careers with a high demand of employment, or in areas where employment is expected to grow, said the bank.

The IDB planned to secure up to 50 million dollars as student loans for the region.