Student Support Fund provides grants, loans to 391k recipients since establishment

AMMAN — The number of university and community college students enrolled in regular programmes who have benefitted from the Student Support Fund since its foundation amounts to approximately 391,000 students, with the support offered totalling approximately JD335 million, according to the Ministry of Higher Education.

The ministry’s Secretary General Ahed Wahadneh on Monday told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the ministry received 63,654 requests for grants and loans from the Student Support Fund for the current academic year, an increase of 20,000 requests from last year. 

He added that 59,000 of these requests were complete, including all required documents. 

Preliminary results listing grant and loan recipients for the 2019-2020 academic year were published on January 14, and the final results are set to be announced in the second half of February, he said.

Due to the high request numbers, competition between applicants has intensified, leading to a rise in the minimum points required to obtain the grant or loan, the official said.

He added that there has been no change in the requirements for grants and loans or the mechanism for calculating points since the establishment of the fund in 2004.

Among the factors influencing which recipients are granted scholarships are the family’s income, the number of its members and the student’s Tawjihi (general secondary education certificate examination) average.

If the student is in the second year or more of university studies, their accumulative average is also taken into account as well as the number of siblings studying in universities and the family’s living conditions.

He noted that the ministry allows students applying for a grant or loan to view their data and information, and the points calculated for them, in addition to the names and points of students nominated for the same grant or loan in their area.

The ministry has published information on the website of its Scholarships Directorate about the types of grants that students can benefit from, clarifying the conditions necessary for each type of grant or loan, he said.

Wahadneh noted that students can object to the preliminary results announced last Tuesday by filling out a one-time electronic objection form on the scholarships website until the end of business hours on January 28.

Students requesting an electronic objection must print the objection form, sign it and verify their national number, and then submit it to the cultural adviser at their university, accompanied by documents supporting the nature of the objection and its validity, no later than January 30, he added.

After the expiry of the period specified for submitting objections, the ministry will study them carefully, recalculating students’ points in the event that they provide correct documentation and determining whether to nominate them for a grant or loan.

Wahadneh also said that a medical committee will be formed “for the first time in the history of the fund”, which will include three specialised physicians tasked with reviewing the medical reports of students who have a medical condition and applied for a grant or loan.