Despite The Deficit, LPDP's Eternal Funds Continue To Grow

BOGOR - Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP) reported that the number of scholarship recipients has decreased significantly even though the number of registrants has continued to soar sharply since 2023. This decline occurred amid the pressure of the LPDP's operational budget deficit which began to emerge in the last two years.

Data shows that the number of participants who passed the selection fell from 9,358 people in 2023 to 8,592 people in 2024. In 2025, LPDP only set a target of 4,000 recipients, with the realization of recipients in Phase I reaching only 1,665 people.

On the other hand, the number of registrants actually increased sharply, from 33,394 in 2023 to 52,842 in 2024 and in 2025, the figure jumped to 78,596 highest registrants in the last 12 years since 2013.

LPDP President Director Sudarto emphasized that the decline in the number of scholarship recipients was not due to budget efficiency, but because of policies to balance the increase in the number of recipients in the previous two years.

"So the issue is not efficiency. The issue is that in the last two years we have sent a very large number of students, the goal is that we want to catch up," he said at the 2026 State Budget Complete Qualification Ceremony, quoted Friday, October 10.

Although LPDP has recorded a deficit in operational financial reports since 2023, the condition of overall managed funds is still relatively safe thanks to the balance of endowment funds which continues to grow.

Data shows that during the 2020 to 2022 period, the LPDP balance sheet recorded a surplus, namely in 2020 revenue reached IDR 3.92 trillion with a expenditure of IDR 2.02 trillion, resulting in a surplus of IDR 1.9 trillion. A similar trend occurred in 2021, the realization of revenue was IDR 4.51 trillion, expenditure of IDR 3.07 trillion, so that the surplus of IDR 1.44 trillion and in 2022 the income was IDR 6.38 trillion with a expenditure of IDR 4.93 trillion, thus a surplus of IDR 1.45 trillion.

However, since 2023, the balance has begun to be disrupted. LPDP's revenue of Rp9.33 trillion was unable to cover spending which reached Rp9.84 trillion, resulting in a deficit of Rp512 billion. The deficit increased in 2024 to Rp910 billion, when spending rose to Rp11.85 trillion and revenue was only Rp10.94 trillion.

Meanwhile, until September 30, 2025, the temporary deficit was recorded at IDR 637 billion, with revenue of IDR 6.82 trillion and expenditure of IDR 7.46 trillion.

Even so, the value of LPDP's endowment funds shows a positive trend every year, namely in 2020, the endowment fund was recorded at IDR 70.11 trillion and continued to rise to IDR 99.11 trillion in 2021. This figure again increased to IDR 119.11 trillion in 2022, then jumped to IDR 139.11 trillion in 2023.

As of September 30, 2025, the balance of endowment funds has reached IDR 154.11 trillion, the same as the total balance at the end of 2024.

"This year we are likely to spend higher, so I might be able to convey this year specifically for education endowment funds or DAP, it is possible that we will experience a deficit but it can still be closed with previous years," he said.