Inclusion of Postgraduate and Professional Certification Courses in CPF Education Loan Scheme

Mr Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider expanding the CPF Education Loan Scheme to include postgraduate and professional certification courses in view of the Whole-of-Government push for skills upgrading.

Dr Tan See Leng: The primary objective of the Central Provident Fund (CPF) is to support members' retirement, healthcare, and housing needs. When the CPF was expanded to support education needs, it was designed as a loan scheme and confined to basic full-time tertiary education at local approved educational institutions. With increasing life expectancy and higher costs of living, we need to ensure that CPF members have sufficient savings for retirement, healthcare and housing.

Postgraduate and professional certification courses are generally tailored for working adults who are in a better position to save for the fees. Therefore, we have no plans to open up the CPF Education Loan Scheme for other courses beyond basic tertiary education at local approved educational institutions.

Singaporeans could consider other available financing options, such as Government tuition fee loan for eligible students studying the approved Ministry of Education-subsidised postgraduate courses at the Autonomous Universities and study or education loans offered by financial institutions. Singaporeans could also tap on their SkillsFuture Credit, including the Mid-Career Credit top-up of $4,000 for Singaporeans aged 40 and above, to defray the out-of-pocket cost for eligible courses funded by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).