Graduate Students Will Also Be Eligible for 'Income-Contingent Student Loans' Starting Next Year

Expansion of Income-Contingent Student Loan Eligibility to Graduate Students
Qualification Revised to Allow Loans Regardless of Academic Performance or Credit Requirements

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Starting next year, graduate students will also be able to receive income-contingent student loans.

On the 21st, the Ministry of Education announced that the Special Act on Income-Contingent Student Loans, the Lifelong Education Act, the School Health Act, and partial amendments to the Early Childhood Education Act were passed at the National Assembly plenary session.

With the revision of the Special Act on Income-Contingent Student Loans, not only undergraduate students but also graduate students will be eligible to receive income-contingent student loans. Additionally, related qualification requirements will be removed so that loans can be granted regardless of academic performance or credit conditions. Interest during enrollment will be waived for low-income and multi-child household students, and student loan repayments will be discharged in the event of bankruptcy.

The School Health Act was amended to establish a legal basis for assigning additional health teachers to schools of a certain size or larger. Previously, regulations allowed only one health teacher per school regardless of school size, which caused difficulties in student health management and health education in large schools. This amendment will enable effective responses to large-scale infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19.

The amendment to the Early Childhood Education Act was passed to require that kindergarten health checkup results be recorded and managed in the student record book. If a guardian has conducted a health checkup under Article 52 of the National Health Insurance Act or Article 14 of the Medical Care Assistance Act, that health checkup can be substituted.

With the revision of the Lifelong Education Act, the issuance of lifelong education vouchers, which support learning expenses necessary for lifelong learning, will be expanded to all citizens. Local governments will also have the authority to issue lifelong education vouchers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.