This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 15, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Close to 1,000 new students in 33 private colleges are now finding it hard to continue their studies as Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) has stopped giving out education loans, a study by the PKR Youth student bureau shows.

The finding has once again highlighted claims that government-linked aid for tertiary education is shrinking this year.

Mara, meanwhile, was reported as saying last Friday that RM264 million had been allocated for students of Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), who complained they did not receive promised loans.

The study also found that about 80% of the 945 students were studying in Mara-related colleges and had been promised loans. This included students from UniKL.

Those in non-Mara colleges had enrolled in the hopes of securing a loan midway through their studies, the study’s author Fahmi Zainol told The Malaysian Insider.

About 80.7% of the students are thinking of dropping out if they cannot secure a Mara loan, while 82% know a friend who had quit college because he or she cannot get a loan.

“The conclusion from our study is that Mara does have a problem with giving out loans. Its online loan application facility has also stopped accepting applications,” said Fahmi, who is also PKR Youth student bureau chief.

Fahmi said 43 of the 945 had to drop out because they could not get a loan.

“Many of these kids had enrolled in their respective colleges beginning July last year. When they could not apply for a loan, they used their parents’ money to pay for the first semester.

“But now they are starting the second semester this year and don’t know where they are going to get the money to pay for their studies.

“That is why some students have dropped out after the first semester [in July],” Fahmi said, adding that more than 90% of the study’s respondents felt troubled by their financial situation.

Fahmi said the students have been told that they have to pay their second-semester fees by May. Failure to do so will mean they will not be able to continue their studies.

The 945 students have also written in to an online complaint centre, which the bureau set up.

“We verified their complaints by visiting the universities in the list to talk to a sample group of students,” said Fahmi. — The Malaysian Insider