The News Lens
Date: 2016/04/25
More than 940,000 Taiwanese are still paying their student loans, and 33,000 of them have
In this July 6, 2010 photo, junior high students study in a small cram school in hopes of success on their high school entrance exams, in Taipei, Taiwan. Taiwanese students spent months preparing for tests that will determine whether they to an elite high school or whether they will be consigned to second best, something that could affect her life for years to come. (AP Photo/Diana Jou)
requested deferred payment because their monthly salary is less than NT$30,000 (approximately US$927), according to the latest statistics released by Ministry of Education (MOE).
The data shows that 319,254 students applied for student loans in the 2014 academic year, including 17,590 high school students and 301,664 college students.
The students who receive student loans account for 22.5% of the 1.34 million college students in the country. Of the students with debt, 59,768 are enrolled in public schools while more than 240,000 are studying in private universities.
MOE has to allocate about NT$3 billion (approximately US$92.8 million) of its annual budget to subsidize the interest of the student loans.
Although students have to start paying back their student loans a year after graduation or completing military service, people who are from low-income households or have a monthly salary less than NT$30,000 (approximately US$927) can apply for deferred payment for a year for three times at most.