February 14, 2025 | 07:23 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Students may face higher single tuition fees (UKT) due to budget cuts at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemendiktisaintek). These cuts, impacting nearly half of the research budget, could force universities to raise tuition.
Research at the ministry is a crucial means for quality and relevance in higher education, which is also part of its tridharma (three pillars: education, research, and community service).
"If it (budget) is cut, we are worried that the campus might raise the UKT. This is sensitive. We don't want to create social unrest," said Ministry's Secretary General Togar M. Simatupang to Tempo on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.
Minister of Higher Education Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro expressed concerns that the budget cuts will compel institutions to seek other funding sources to maintain development after losing research funds. "If there are no other options, we are forced to increase tuition fees," he said.
To mitigate this, Satryo pledged to protect funding for the Center of Excellence in Higher Education. Previously, Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 1 of 2025 reduced this funding by 50 percent, from Rp250 billion to Rp125 billion.
"We will maintain the initial budget, as this is a direct assistance program to higher education institutions because they are also experiencing efficiency," Satryo stated during a meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission X at the Parliament Complex on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
The State Budget (APBN) allocates Rp1.2 trillion for research in the ministry out of a total of Rp57.6 trillion. Overall, the ministry faces Rp22.5 trillion in budget cuts.
Togar noted that they are trying to restructure the budget. However, even after restructuring, he claimed that the ministry could only recover about 10 percent of the total Rp22.5 trillion cut.
Mohammad Nasih, Rector of Airlangga University in Surabaya, said there are no current plans to raise tuition fees, despite the budget cuts. He indicated that UKT changes, if any, will not affect students entering through the National Selection Based on Achievement (SNBP) and National Selection Based on Test (SNBT) pathways.
"There is no increase for SNBP and SNBT this year. Besides, the UKT of Airlangga University and other universities is flexible. The UKT is in tiers of 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on," he told Tempo on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
M Rizky Yusrial contributed to the writing of this article.
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