Students, here's what Budget 2017 has for you!

With Budget 2017 tabled last Friday, there are plenty of new things that have been put forth in terms of higher education, PTPTN being one of them.PTPTN has widely been a choice of students wishing to further their studies in universities. The number of students receiving the loan has been reduced from 180,000 to 102,000 students in 2015.

Additionally, the criteria of handing out loans to students has been changed. Students of low income families and families who receive the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) are eligible for a full loan. Students from families with a monthly income of less than RM8,000 receive 75% of the total amount of the loan, and students from families with a monthly income exceeding RM8,000 will receive 50% of the loan.

Not only that, the government announced the allocation of RM4.3 billion for scholarships, contrary to expectations of austerity measures and budget cuts. 2016, the allocated budget for scholarships was RM2.647 billion, which was a 23% reduction from the 2015 budget. However, next year, scholarship allocation would even surpasses that of 2015.

Public universities, on the other hand, will suffer a significant slash in annual funding for 2017. About RM7.4 have been allocated for 20 public universities with RM1.4 billion allocated for 4 university hospitals and RM300 million for 5 research universities. The combined operating budget for public universities next year will see a slash of nearly 20% (RM1.5 billion).

Some universities will suffer major cuts in their funding. UKM, for instance, will face cuts as high as 31.1% in operational expenditure from this year’s already reduced budget. UKM has a RM512.33 million in operational cost this year, but will have RM352.7 million in 2017. Top ranking institutions will not be exempted.

Apart from that, public universities are expected to promote research culture and increase their publications and intellectual property. For this purpose, there will be an allocation of some RM100 million.

The 1Malaysia Book Voucher will be replaced with a student debit card. The card is expected to benefit 1.3 million students and will enable students to purchase more than just books.