The higher education ministry on Wednesday published the final list of 1275 successful applicants for student loans after deciding to award loans to all applicants who met the criteria.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih decided to award student loans this year to all applicants who met the criteria. According to the permanent results made public by the ministry, 1275 applicants met the criteria out of 1507 applicants.
All the students would have the opportunity to pursue higher education or training in the Maldives or overseas with loan assistance. The final list of students who secured the loans was published on the ministry's website.
The provisional list was published on June 1 with the opportunity to submit complaints. Some 142 applicants submitted complaints, the ministry said. The complaints were evaluated by a special committee formed by the ministry.
When this year's student loans were opened, both new students and continuing students were allowed to apply. All expenses were to be covered under the loan assistance in countries specified in this year's announcement. Loan assistance to study in any other country would be provided at the same rate as an approved country chosen by the applicant.
This year's loan scheme included slots for persons with disabilities and for students enrolled in the first degree scheme to cover their other expenses.
Top-up loans were also offered for 120 students who previously received loans for training or higher education but were unable to complete their programs through no fault of their own.
This year's loan scheme was announced after reducing the loan administrative charge to one percent.
With the list published on Wednesday, the number of students who were awarded loans by the government to date since 2019 for training and higher education reached 3261.
