New Brunswick university student leaders are worried that province's new debt-cap program comes with a requirement to complete programs within specific time frames, which many students could find too difficult to meet.

Duncan Gallant, the president of the New Brunswick Student Alliance, applauded the Timely Completion Benefit program when it was announced but he said on Monday that some students need more flexibility.

The new program announced in the March budget limits the debt post-secondary students can accumulate as long as they graduate within the timeline established by their program — after four years if they are in a four-year program, for example.

Eligible students will have their federal and provincial student loan debt capped at $26,000. Any debt accumulated above that would be forgiven.

Gallant is concerned about the requirement for students to finish their degrees on schedule to qualify and he wants his organization to have input on setting up an appeals process.

There are all kinds of reasons students may take more than the usual four years to complete a degree, such as illness or specialized programs that require extra course work to complete.

The student alliance wants to hear from students about what problems they have encountered.

"The more stories we collect and the more scenarios that we collect, the better our input will be to the government in informing this appeals process and making further improvements in the program," Gallant said.

Post-Secondary Education Minister Donald Arseneault said the appeal process probably won't have any criteria at all.

"It's going to be case-by-case. There's always going to be situations that may arise that doesn't fall into criteria that we set," Arseneault said.

Arseneault said he should have statistics later this summer on how many graduates have applied for the debt cap, and how many have been accepted and rejected.