On the afternoon of September 5, the Ministry of Finance issued a press release on credit policies for students, students, master's students and biomedical research in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
The Ministry of Finance said that Decision No. 29/2025/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on credit for students, students, master's students and graduate students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) marks an important step forward in creating a preferential credit mechanism to support the young generation to study in key areas, contributing to improving the quality of human resources for the development of science, technology and national innovation.
According to the Decision, borrowers include students, master's students, graduate students, and graduate students studying life sciences, natural sciences, computer science and information technology, engineering technology, engineering, architecture and construction, production and processing, calculation and statistics, and financial technology according to the Prime Minister's regulations on the List of education and training of the national education system and related guiding documents. Other key technology training majors as prescribed by law are also eligible for loans.
Loan conditions are stipulated: First-year students must graduate from high school and meet one of two criteria: Three years of high school with good academic performance or higher; or an average score in grade 12 for Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology of 8 points or higher.
For students from the second year, the average learning outcome of the subjects must be excellent or better in the year before applying for a loan.
Master's and doctoral students need to have a decision to be recognized as students and doctoral students of a higher education institution according to the law.
The maximum loan amount for a student includes the entire tuition fee (after deducting scholarships and other financial support if any) and other living expenses and study expenses, up to 5 million VND/month. Thus, in the case of tuition fees of 10 million VND/month, learners can borrow up to 15 million VND/month (10 million VND for tuition and 5 million VND for other living expenses and learning costs).
The loan term includes: Loan disbursement period, the period from the time the student finishes the course to the time of starting to repay the debt for the first time, and the debt repayment period. Specifically, the disbursement period is from the time of receiving the first loan until the learners finish the course. After 12 months from the date of completion of the course, the borrower begins to repay principal and interest. The maximum repayment period is equal to the loan disbursement period.
According to this regulation, in case a student borrows capital for a 5-year course, the total loan term can be up to 11 years.
The decision also stipulates a mechanism for the Social Policy Bank to consider and decide to extend debt for customers in difficulty, in order to facilitate the learning and repayment of debts.
