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The government will provide a one-off RM500 special assistance for domestic flight tickets to eligible new students entering public higher education institutions for the September or October intake this year
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the aid would benefit 7,095 students who need to travel between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan to begin their studies.
"The intake for public universities, polytechnics, and community colleges is in September and October," he said when announcing the assistance during the national-level Malaysia Day 2026 celebration at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching on 16 September.
"This will benefit 7,095 students who need to fly between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan to begin their studies."
The one-off payment is intended to help ease the travel costs faced by students who need to fly to another part of the country to start their tertiary education.
The student assistance is part of wider cost-of-living measures
According to Bernama, Anwar said the flight assistance was part of the federal government's broader efforts to ease the people's financial burden.
He also announced improvements to the BUDI Madani Diesel initiative and the restructuring of special grant entitlements for Sarawak.
Earlier, Anwar announced that Sarawak's interim special grant would be increased to RM1.5 billion this year, up from RM600 million previously.
He said the federal government would continue engaging with the Sabah and Sarawak state governments to finalise a sustainable formula for determining the annual Special Grant rate.
