Education: 63 to 64 thousand students expected to be covered by university grants and loans

He explained that the number of students expected to be covered by grants and loans ranges between 63 and 64 thousand, out of 75 to 80 thousand students who apply annually and meet the conditions, which means that the coverage rate will exceed 80% of the total eligible students.

Al-Khatib pointed out that the Student Support Fund was able during 2026 to pay off more than 80 million dinars of its accumulated debt to universities, bringing its debt to zero, considering that this contributes to ensuring the fund continues to perform its role in supporting students, after more than half a million students benefited from its services over the past years.

He added that the government increased the fund's allocations within the ministry's budget from 20 million dinars to 30 million dinars, in addition to the Prime Minister's announcement of allocating 10 million dinars from the proceeds of selling special license plates for the benefit of the fund.

He indicated that the allocations available this year amount to 40 million dinars, including the fund's financial allocations and the announced support from the proceeds of special plates, in addition to the direct government support provided to universities, which will be higher this year than before, explaining that this support will enhance opportunities to increase the number of students covered by grants and loans.

He pointed out that allocating 10 million dinars from the proceeds of selling special plates could contribute to benefiting about 10 thousand additional students, which would reflect on about 10 thousand families.

Regarding the application and eligibility criteria, Al-Khatib confirmed that the conditions for obtaining grants and loans and the repayment mechanism have not changed, but a fundamental amendment was introduced to the system for distributing grants and loans to districts, with the aim of achieving a more equitable distribution and addressing the disparity in coverage rates between densely populated areas and small and remote districts.

He explained that the Kingdom includes 55 districts, in addition to a nominal district for holders of Arab and foreign certificates, noting that the previous mechanism was based on allocating a fixed quota for each district from the total grants and loans, which led to the coverage rate in some districts reaching 100%, while it decreased in other densely populated districts to 45 and 48%.

He added that the amended system provides for distributing 50% of the total grants and loans equally among the districts, so that each district receives 550 grants and loans, including bachelor's and diploma students, while the remaining 50% is distributed according to the relative importance of each district, taking into account the number of students not covered by grants and loans.

He confirmed that this mechanism will contribute to increasing the numbers and percentages of students benefiting in densely populated districts, and lowering the competition points required to obtain grants and loans there, while maintaining the quotas of small districts, especially those located in remote areas, to achieve a greater degree of fairness in distribution.

Regarding the loan repayment mechanism, Al-Khatib explained that it remained as it is, as the repayment process begins two years after the student graduates and obtains the university degree, in coordination between the student and the Directorate of Public Funds to determine the amount to be deducted, whether from the student or the guarantor.