The city of Busan is stepping in to support student loan interest payments to ease the tuition burden on college students and young people.
Busan said it will accept applications for its "University and Graduate Student Loan Interest Support Program" from the 6th through the 28th of next month.
The program is available to students enrolled in or on leave from universities and graduate schools in Busan who have taken out loans from the Korea Student Aid Foundation, as well as unemployed graduates residing in Busan within two years of graduation.
Those selected as recipients will receive support in the form of a deduction from the principal and interest of their Korea Student Aid Foundation loan accounts, covering one year of student loan interest accrued from July last year through June this year.
Applications can be submitted online through the Busan Youth Platform. Enrolled and on-leave students must submit a certificate of enrollment (or leave of absence), while graduates must submit a graduation certificate, a resident registration abstract, and a health insurance qualification confirmation. However, applicants who consent to the shared use of administrative information may omit the resident registration abstract and the health insurance qualification confirmation. Except for the graduation certificate, all submitted documents must be issued on or after the announcement date of the 6th.
The city plans to finalize the recipients and support amounts through an eligibility review and provide the interest support in December. Selection results will be individually notified via text message, and support amounts can be checked on the Korea Student Aid Foundation website and mobile app.
From 2016 through last year, the city provided a total of 2.583 billion won in student loan interest support to 34,494 people.
"The student loan interest support is a program aimed at easing the economic burden that comes with local young people's studies and job-seeking activities," said Kim Gwi-ok, director general of the city's Youth and Industry-Academia Bureau. "We will continue to expand various support policies so that young people can settle and grow in Busan."
