Anwar Siswadi, Bandung – The Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) confirmed that it cooperates with non-banking institutions, including online loan platforms, as an option for payment methods of the single tuition fee (UKT). The campus' spokesperson Naomi Haswanto claimed that other state and private universities are also adopting the same policy.

"ITB has been working with non-bank institutions that are registered with the OJK (Financial Services Authority) as a payment method for tuition fees since August 2023," Naomi said on Friday, January 26, 2024.

Naomi explained that the campus offers many payment options provided by various banks. "Both through virtual account services and credit cards. [Students] can also make payments through non-bank institutions specifically for education, that are registered and supervised by the OJK," she added.

In December 2023, at least 1,800 ITB students applied for tuition fee relief. Of the number, 1,492 students were allowed to pay in installments, 184 students received tuition relief for one semester, and 124 others received permanent tuition relief until they graduated.

Students who fail to pay their tuition fees are required to apply for academic leave and are exempt from the bill, which does not affect their study period. "If they do not apply for academic leave, their status in PD Dikti will be inactive or they will not have a student card, so their study period will continue and they will have to pay 50% of the tuition fee according to the regulations," Naomi explained.

ITB has been in hot water recently for offering the service of online loans to students to pay their tuition fees at a high-interest rate. The information was first brought up by an X (formerly Twitter) account @ITB fess, which revealed that ITB collaborated with peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Danacita, as displayed on the campus' website.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1826116/itb-clarifies-online-loan-service-for-tuition-paymen