Scholarship for catching up? The Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) scholarship program as a pillar of economic development policy

Abstract

This paper analyzes the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (Lembaga Penjamin Dana Pendidikan, LPDP) post-graduate scholarship program as a policy instrument of the Indonesian government. It illustrates the formation and redefinition of the endowment fund into a policy instrument which ties up education with a broader human resource/human capital development agenda geared toward supporting especially in the context of Indonesian government’s agenda for economic catch up. The LPDP scholarship extended and expanded the Indonesian government’s subsidizing of learning—often part of economic growth and catchup theories, providing the country’s economy including its private sector batches of post-graduate degree holders. Although studies on the role and impact of post-graduate are still limited, their position relative to Indonesian workforce in general may give a nod to the government’s expectation that the scholarship alumni would take up various leadership positions in the society. The LPDP being an endowment fund whose operating budget is separate from regular government budget makes it likely to be resilient unless there is a significant intervention or external shock, and the enduring centrality of the scholarship among LPDP programs implies the government’s willingness to bet on expanding the access to post-graduate education as a component of national economic development planning.