Amendments to student loan regulations to make it easier for borrowers to pay back debts have been approved by the Ministry of Education, it said on Friday.
The amendments, which apply to those studying at high-school level or above, include widening the eligibility for interest-free loans and introducing more relaxed repayment measures, with both to take effect next month, the ministry said in a statement.
The revisions stipulate that if a student is from a household with an annual income of less than NT$1.2 million (US$38,678), they can apply for an interest-free loan, the ministry said.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
If a student loan applicant has a sibling who is either underaged or an adult student, or if the applicant has a child who is a student, the household income threshold rises to NT$1.48 million for eligibility for an interest-free loan, it said.
If a student has two or more siblings or two or more children, there are no household income requirements, it added.
Under existing requirements, all students from families with an annual income of less than NT$1.14 million can apply for interest-free loans.
Those from households with an annual income between NT$1.14 million and NT$1.2 million would pay half the interest amount.
An only child from a household with an income of more than NT$1.2 million is not eligible to apply for a student loan.
However, a student from a family with an annual income of more than NT$1.2 million who also has siblings is eligible to apply for a student loan, but they have to pay the full interest amount.
Regarding the more relaxed repayment measures, borrowers are eligible for a 12-year deferment period if they earn less than NT$50,000 per month, up from an eight-year deferment period and NT$40,000 threshold, the ministry said.
The income threshold increases to NT$60,000 a month if the borrower has a child and an additional NT$10,000 for each subsequent child, it said.
The period of only having to pay back interest rather than the loan’s principal has also been extended to 12 years, the ministry added.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS