KUALA LUMPUR: Some 30,000 students had their National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans suspended last year when they failed to obtain a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.0.
PTPTN loan division (private higher educational institutions or IPTS) deputy manager Abdul Ghaffar Yusop said the loan payments would be suspended for one semester until their CGPA improved.
“If they fail to maintain the minimum CGPA, they will need to pay for their own studies. Students are often unaware of this,” he told The Star after speaking about how to obtain PTPTN loans at the Star Education Fair 2006.
However, many students usually buck up in their studies and get to resume their loans the following semester.
It is estimated that 120,000 apply for loans each year.
“If they change courses, they must repay the amount which they have already taken. After this, they can re-apply for another loan,” he said.
Abdul Ghaffar said as a result of loan defaulters, new applicants could no longer convert their loans into scholarships if they obtained excellent grades as practised earlier.
“We also have stricter requirements now on issuing loans. Students must be Malaysians, be no more than 45 years old and have a minimum of three SPM credits,” he said.
He advised students to ensure they have settled their tuition fees first and then save the rest of the loan amount for other needs.
“Students must remember that this is a loan which has to be repaid. We have had cases where loan recipients used the money to buy expensive handphones. Some even ate at fast-food restaurants everyday because this was the first time they had received so much money,” he said.
Students who had obtained “O”-levels overseas because their parents were working there could also apply for a loan, he said, and they would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
