LPDP: 44 Scholarship Recipients Face Sanctions for Failing to Fulfil Service Obligations

The Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) has reported conducting reviews of 600 scholarship recipients, finding that 44 awardees are suspected of not having fulfilled their service obligations after completing their studies.

Under existing regulations, scholarship recipients are required to serve and contribute in Indonesia for a period equivalent to twice their study duration plus one year.

LPDP President Director Sudarto said the institution is currently processing sanctions against the dozens of awardees in question. “Of that number, eight have been confirmed as having violated their obligations and have been sanctioned with fund repayment orders, whilst the remaining 36 are still being processed,” Sudarto said during the APBN KiTa press conference broadcast live on the Ministry of Finance’s YouTube channel on Monday, 23 February 2026.

Sudarto explained that the data was obtained from immigration crossing records from the Directorate General of Immigration, public reports, and social media monitoring. He noted that not all reports automatically constitute violations.

Some scholarship recipients are still undertaking internships or building businesses abroad for up to two years, which is permitted under the scholarship recipient handbook. Others have already completed their service period or received official assignments from their institutions.

“We will process each case objectively and proportionally. We remain committed to upholding the public trust, as these are public funds that must be returned and must deliver the greatest possible benefit to Indonesia,” Sudarto said.

He further stated that awardees found in violation could be required to repay the full scholarship amount plus interest, and face being blocked from participating in future LPDP programmes. These provisions are already stipulated in the agreement signed by scholarship recipients.

The service obligations of LPDP scholarship recipients came under the spotlight after an LPDP alumna named Dwi Sasetyaningtyas went viral on social media for showing off her child’s British passport. She expressed her happiness and stated her wish for her children to become foreign nationals by holding British passports.

LPDP subsequently revealed that Tyas’s husband, identified as AP, who is also an LPDP alumnus, had not completed his contribution obligations after finishing his studies. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has since stated that AP has agreed to return the education funds he received as an LPDP awardee, along with interest.

“We will enforce the existing LPDP regulations so that the individual concerned fulfils his responsibilities to LPDP,” Purbaya said during the press conference monitored via the Ministry of Finance’s YouTube channel on Monday, 23 February 2026.

Purbaya indicated that the estimated amount of education funds AP must repay runs into billions of rupiah, though he did not disclose the precise figure.