Keterjangkauan Uang Kuliah Tunggal terhadap Upah Minimum Provinsi dan Pengeluaran per Kapita: Studi Deskriptif pada 20 Perguruan Tinggi Negeri Jalur SNBP 2024

Abstract

Background: Indonesia's single tuition fee (UKT) at state universities is set in nominal rupiah regardless of the student's province, while wages and household spending vary widely across regions. Evidence on UKT affordability relative to local ability to pay is limited. Objective: To measure UKT affordability against the provincial minimum wage (UMP) and average per capita expenditure, and to test whether UKT levels follow local ability to pay. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study of 20 state universities in nine provinces. The highest UKT group for the 2024 SNBP admission track was compiled from media reports citing official campus pages, the 2024 UMP from governors' decrees as reported, and 2024 monthly per capita expenditure from the BPS National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas). Affordability is expressed as the number of months of UMP or per capita expenditure equal to one semester's UKT. Sensitivity analyses use district minimum wages (UMK) and district per capita expenditure where the campus is located. Mann–Whitney tests, Spearman correlation and log-log OLS with HC3 errors were used. Results: One semester of the highest UKT equalled a median 9.0 months of UMP (range 2.6–15.7) and 15.1 months of provincial per capita expenditure (5.5–25.2). At 16 of 20 universities it exceeded six full months of UMP. The burden relative to UMP was heavier on Java (median 11.5 months) than elsewhere (5.8; p = 0.018), but the gap disappeared with campus-district UMK (6.8 vs 5.6; p = 0.67). UKT was unrelated to UMP (elasticity −0.49; p = 0.34) and per capita expenditure (−0.52; p = 0.35). UKT groups 1 and 2 equalled only 2.4–8.2% of a semester's UMP. Conclusion: The top UKT group is far beyond the means of minimum-wage households, and the burden depends on location because fees are not adjusted to local ability to pay. Accurate placement of students into UKT groups matters more for affordability than the top fee itself. Findings are descriptive and need data on the distribution of students across UKT groups.