LPDP Asks Wealthy Individuals Not to Take Full Scholarships
LPDP Asks Wealthy Individuals Not to Take Full Scholarships
- Mohammad Yudha Prasetya
Jakarta, VIVA – The Director General of the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), Sudarto, has emphasised that the LPDP scholarship is inclusive and focuses on identifying top talents within the country.
This statement aims to correct the misconception regarding the eligibility of scholarship recipients based on their economic background.
“LPDP is truly focused on finding the best talents in Indonesia to access top-tier education worldwide. It must be inclusive,” said Sudarto to reporters at the Ministry of Finance office in Jakarta, quoted on Thursday, February 26, 2026.
Sudarto stated that LPDP strives to provide equal opportunities for Indonesian talents to access higher education.
One of the efforts undertaken also includes affirmative scholarships specifically for children from Papua, affirmative regions, underprivileged backgrounds, people with disabilities, and sports.
The affirmative scholarship has reached 127 cities/regencies with a cumulative total of 14,983 recipients.
For 2026, affirmative scholarships account for more than 25 percent of the total recipients of educational funds.
Regarding the spotlight on children of officials receiving scholarships, Sudarto said they also belong to the group entitled to receive scholarships because LPDP does not require an economic background.
However, he suggested that prospective applicants with adequate financial means choose the partial scholarship route, where LPDP only funds 50 percent of the education and the remainder is paid by the recipient with personal funds.
“This is an appeal, if possible, choose a partial scholarship rather than a full scholarship, so that we can fund more scholarships,” said Sudarto.
As of 2026, the LPDP scholarship program has supported 58,444 degree scholarship recipients, as well as 583,171 participants in collaborative programs with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Kemdiktisaintek) and the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), and 42,160 recipients of collaborative scholarships with the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Starting in 2021 to 2026, the scholarship program has been directed more specifically towards strategic fields, including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), food and maritime industries, energy, health, defense, digitalisation (including artificial intelligence and semiconductors) as well as downstream industries, manufacturing, advanced materials, entrepreneurship, and the creative industry.
LPDP recorded that there are currently around 38,000 scholarship recipients who are currently studying. (Ant)