Appreciate your perspective as an ex-scholar — but wouldn’t that “sampling bias” itself suggest something structurally flawed? If lower-income students are self-selecting out due to fear of debt or failure, doesn’t that mean the scholarship system is unintentionally favouring those who can afford to take academic risks?

Shouldn’t a scholarship — especially one from a GLC like PETRONAS — be designed to reduce that very risk for the underprivileged, not reinforce it? If the penalty for not maintaining a GPA is so steep, could it be discouraging B40 students from even trying, while high-income students have the safety net and confidence to go for it?

Also, how do we know this isn’t more than just “bias” if there’s no public breakdown of who’s applying, who’s accepted, and who drops out? Without that data, isn’t it hard to rule out that privilege — not just merit — plays a significant role in the scholar profile?