Extended Suspension of Repayment and Interest Accrual of Government Loans for all Autonomous University and Polytechnic Graduates till 30 September 2021

The Ministry of Education (MOE) will extend the suspension of repayments and interest accrual for the government loans for all Autonomous University (AU) and polytechnic graduates for a further four months, until 30 September 2021. This seeks to extend the support for AU and polytechnic graduates whose employment may be affected given the current economic uncertainty. The suspension was first announced as part of the Resilience Budget on 26 March 2020, where MOE had provided a one-year suspension on the above – from 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2021.

2. With this extension, all loan repayments due will be suspended and no interest (standard or penalty interest) will be levied on any outstanding loan, until 30 September 2021. This includes the Tuition Fee Loan (TFL), Study Loan (SL) and Overseas Student Programme Loan (OSPL)¹ which are government loans that provide financial support for students enrolled at the AUs and polytechnics.

3.All individuals with outstanding TFL, SL and OSPL will be automatically granted the suspension of loan repayment and interest accrual until 30 September 2021. This includes graduates who have already started on their loan repayments, and students with outstanding government loans who will be graduating before 30 September 2021. Individuals who wish to continue repaying their loans can do so by informing their respective institutions and agent banks to make the necessary arrangements.

Footnotes

1. These loans are interest-free during the course of study, with interest accruing only upon graduation. Loan repayments commence between six months to two years after graduation, depending on the type of loan taken.