What could be worse - not receiving your study loan on time or being dismissed from your university for not paying tuition fees?

This is apparently the dilemma faced by 11 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) journalism students, who received a letter from the finance department yesterday warning them of expulsion should they fail to pay up by Jan 31.

According to a source today, the students from Utar's Petaling Jaya campus have yet to receive their National Higher Education Fund Corporation (NHEFC) study loans to pay the fees.

The study loans were supposed to be disbursed by the beginning of this semester on Jan 3.

According to NHEFC, the study loans could not be released because the fund did not get confirmation on the status of the students from the university.

However, Utar claimed that it did send the necessary documents to the fund.

Appeal letter

The students have since filed an appeal letter with the university's finance department on Jan 16, asking for a grace period.

They were also said to have related their problem to Arts and Social Science Faculty dean Dr Yeoh Suan Pow today.

But the students have yet to receive any assurance on their status should they fail to pay up before the deadline.

Contacted later, Utar's finance director Tham Kam Seng declined to comment on the matter.

When contacted, NHEFC's Public Relations Officer Noora Md Yusof said the fund has just received the confirmation status from Utar regarding the students.

The documents were sent on Jan 18, which according to the fund was "a bit late".

Nevertheless, the agency will be releasing the loans for the students to pay their fees soon.