Interest-free student loan for college student from rural areas, which has existed since 1994, is one
of the student aid programs provided at the government level. This loan program aims to reduce the
financial burden for higher education of rural families and to expand their higher educational
opportunities by lending the money for higher education without interest. Recently, the demand for
rural college student loans has been increasing because based on the policy framework of balanced
development of rural areas, loans were expanded to cover the whole tuition. In this policy context,
there is greater necessity to make the selection criteria more elaborate in order to raise the policy
effect with the budget constraints. Based on this necessity, we intend to classify the demand groups
with the most need for the rural student loans through the Decision Tree Method, and to suggest its
implications. Research findings show that the groups who bear heavier financial burden for higher
education are those who are attending private universities. Among the students attending private
universities, students whose parents' educational level is low less than junior high, and those whose
parents are engaged in agriculture have the greatest financial burden for higher education fees. Also,
the chosen major and the type of university attended (4 year university or 2 year college) turn out
to be important variables on the rate of temporary withdrawal of students for tuition reasons.