“I would like to give all of you work. And that work is called student loans.” These words were uttered by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo about a year ago in a meeting with representatives of 114 banks at the State Palace. He urged the local banks to provide student loans to help more Indonesian students to pursue a higher education. The student loan initiative hopes to increase access to tertiary education for high school graduates, part of the government’s comprehensive program to improve the quality of human resources in the country. Several banks have since then responded to the call, offering loans with lenient requirements and loan limits to give high school and university graduates options in higher education. Yet, more than a year later, education-related loans have struggled to gain traction. The managing director of state-owned Bank Tab...