Amman, Aug. 17 (Petra) -- The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has announced an increase in allocations for the University Student Support Fund to JD40 million, following the allocation of an additional JD10 million in implementation of Royal directives.
The increase is expected to raise the number of students benefiting from grants and loans to about 63,000. A new mechanism for distributing grants and loans among the Kingdom’s districts will also take effect starting with the 2026-2027 academic year.
Director of the Student Support Fund Unit Muhannad Al-Khatib said the additional JD10 million will be financed from revenues generated by the sale of special vehicle license plate numbers. The latest increase brings the Fund’s allocations to JD40 million, compared with JD20 million two years ago.
The government had raised the Fund’s allocations in the 2025 budget by 50 percent, from JD20 million to JD30 million. This allowed about 10,000 additional students to benefit from the Fund, bringing the expected number of beneficiaries to around 63,000, compared with a previous annual average of 53,000.
Al-Khatib said the latest increase follows Royal directives issued on Jan. 12, 2026, calling for an additional JD5 million for the Fund. He noted that government efforts over the past two years have included increasing the Fund’s allocations and diversifying its sources of financing.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, the number of students nominated for domestic grants and loans increased from 53,132 to 60,341, an increase of more than 7,000 students. The ministry later nominated an additional 4,500 students to replace applicants who did not complete the procedures required to receive loans, bringing the total number of nominees to 64,841.
The share of eligible applicants receiving grants and loans consequently increased from 78 percent to 84 percent. Loans made available following applicants’ withdrawal were directed to districts where support had not covered all eligible applicants.
Al-Khatib said the University Student Support Fund has provided full and partial grants and loans to more than 747,430 students since its establishment in 2004 through the end of 2025, with total expenditure reaching JD687,458,263.
Of the total beneficiaries, 36,356 students received full grants at a cost of about JD110.94 million, while 272,121 received partial grants costing approximately JD232.31 million. Another 438,953 students benefited from loans at a cost of about JD344.21 million. Loan beneficiaries accounted for 58.7 percent of all beneficiaries.
Al-Khatib also referred to a Cabinet decision issued in July 2025 to allocate revenues from all special vehicle license plate numbers sold through public auctions to support the Fund. In December 2025, the Cabinet approved JD10 million to cover the fees of eligible students and enable them to register for the second semester of the 2025-2026 academic year.
Regarding the Fund’s outstanding financial obligations, Al-Khatib said debts owed to public universities had previously reached about JD80 million. He attributed the accumulated obligations to the expansion of the number of beneficiaries without sufficient financial allocations in previous years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The outstanding amount has since fallen to about JD14 million and is expected to be fully settled before the end of 2026.
Al-Khatib said the previous distribution mechanism, which allocated support equally among districts, had resulted in differences in coverage rates. While coverage reached 100 percent in some districts, it was around 50 percent in other districts with higher population densities.
Under the new mechanism, each district will receive an equal basic allocation, while the remaining grants and loans will be distributed according to demand and population density.
The basic annual allocation for each district will comprise 550 grants and loans: 250 loans and 150 partial grants for bachelor’s degree students, in addition to 150 partial grants for intermediate diploma students.
Al-Khatib stressed that the new mechanism will not affect students’ eligibility requirements, selection criteria or the approved points system. The change applies only to the distribution of the number of grants and loans among the Kingdom’s districts.
He clarified that population density will not be used to award students additional points. Instead, it will be taken into account when determining the amount of support allocated to each district after the eligibility requirements have been applied.
//Petra//WH
