The truth of the matter is, obtaining tertiary education can often prove to be an incredibly expensive affair that many students will find difficult to afford. This is especially true in the case of courses offered by private education institutions, which can often cost tens of thousands of Ringgit. But given an increasingly competitive job market, many are left with little choice but to take up personal financing solutions to put themselves through university.
In light of this, the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) was founded in 1997 to offer Malaysian students a means of financial assistance for their tertiary studies. Essentially functioning as a study loan, PTPTN loan amounts are only subject to 1% of interest, which is considerably lower than that of loans offered by other financial institutions.
PTPTN borrowers exempted from repaying loans if they graduate with 1st class honours
And to add to that, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced that PTPTN borrowers who manage to achieve first-class honours upon their graduation will be exempted from paying their loan amounts. According to The Star, this prerogative will be extended to all students who have taken out a study loan under the PTPTN initiative, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
“I wish to announce that the government will once again be giving the special waiver to any student with a PTPTN loan, and have a first-class honours degree, whereby they are allowed to change their loan to be exempted from repayment without taking into account their economic background, race or religion,” he said.
Exemption previously suspended during Budget 2019
Speaking at the PTPTN Silver Jubilee Celebration yesterday (27th July 2022), he said that the loan exemption will be granted to students who have graduated from 2019 onwards. He hopes that this would encourage more local students to pursue academic excellence in their studies.
Previously, it was announced during Budget 2019 that the PTPTN loan exemption would be temporarily suspended and only offered to students who hail from B40 families. To date, PTPTN has enabled 3.67 million Malaysians to make their higher education aspirations a reality through a total disbursement amounting to RM66.87 billion.
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