A total of 539,284 National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) borrowers have never paid back their loans as of Sept 30, according to the Higher Education Ministry.

It said in a reply posted on the Parliament website today that they were among 2,424,009 borrowers who had completed their studies and were supposed to repay their loans amounting to almost RM24.6 billion.

"Of the total, 1,884,725 borrowers had...