President Prabowo Instructs Prompt, Phased Preparations for Free Tuition Program at State Universities

President Prabowo Subianto has instructed his administration to prepare the free education program across state universities (PTN) as quickly as possible, while taking into account the stages of the implementation of the program and the country’s fiscal capacity. This issue was discussed at a limited cabinet meeting chaired by the President at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday (09/23), as a follow-up to the President’s directives regarding free public education up to the higher education level.

Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto explained that the Government has discussed several options to implement these directives. Calculations were conducted by examining various components of higher education financing, including revenue from Single Tuition Fee (UKT), Institutional Development Contributions (IPI) from independent admission tracks, and other sources of revenue at state universities.

“We carried out several calculations and analyses, starting from current UKT revenue, the amount of IPI collected from independent admissions, as well as other revenues. At state universities, for example, postgraduate program revenue sometimes subsidizes undergraduate programs,” the Minister stated.

A study regarding the financing requirements for free higher education was previously conducted by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology as a foundation for assessing budget needs and various possible implementation schemes.

According to the Minister, the calculations will subsequently be discussed by taking into account the available fiscal space in the State Budget. The Government seeks to ensure that the policy is designed in a measurable and sustainable manner.

“Naturally, the President expects that this free tuition program be executed as soon as possible. However, we will certainly go through phases rather than doing it all at once,” the Minister expressed.

The President also instructed that a more in-depth study be conducted through the establishment of a special team led by Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs Pratikno. The team will involve several relevant ministries, including the Ministry of State Secretariat, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology.

“The President further instructed us to conduct a deeper review by forming a special team led by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs to further break down the calculations,” he explained.

Brian expressed hope that within approximately two weeks to one month, the team would produce more precise calculations and clearer implementation roadmap. The results will then be reported back to the President as a basis for determining the next steps.

“Hopefully within perhaps two weeks to a month, we will obtain more reasonable calculations and better-defined stages,” Brian said.

The findings of the study will subsequently be reported to the President to determine the measures and execution phases for the free higher education policy across state universities.

“Led by the Coordinating Minister, we will report back to the President to establish the steps and phases so that the President’s vision and directives to make public higher education free of charge can be realized,” he concluded. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (YA/TM)