Universities in Singapore offer scholarships to students in recognition of outstanding academic excellence, leadership potential and special talents. In Singapore, financial aid is given in the form of tuition grants by the Government of Singapore to both domestic as well as international students. If the university is private, then they will have their own financial aid schemes. 

Applying for Scholarships

Universities in Singapore award merit-based scholarships to students with exceptional academic performance and special talents. Depending on the university, you will have to submit a separate scholarship application in addition to your online application. For example, NUS does not require a separate application, but NTU does. 

There are two types of scholarships available:

1. i) Merit-Based Scholarships
2. ii) Need-Based Scholarships

We will take the case of NTU and go through the scholarship application to give you an idea on how to fill in scholarship applications.

Firstly, you will be able to apply for scholarships after you have submitted your online application for admission. You should be able to see a link for scholarship applications in your application dashboard. 

The application will require:

1. Your top five personal achievements
2. One essay of not more than 300 words 
3. One passport-sized photograph
4. One Referee’s Appraisal

After you submit your scholarship application an “Action/Status” page will appear to show what to do next. Here you will be able to:

1. Upload your passport-sized photo
2. Submit a referee’s appraisal within 7 days. A URL will be provided to you so that you can forward it to your school teacher. A referee’s appraisal is similar to the LOR but needs to be submitted separately in the scholarship application.
3. If you have applied for need-based scholarships then you will have to refer to the document checklist to submit additional documents which will assess your financial background, which include family’s current bank statements, savings, assets, liabilities etc.

After the submission and completion of your scholarship application, you may be invited for an interview session to assess your candidature.

There is also a variety of external merit-based scholarships available for international students, which are funded by the government, companies, corporations etc. You will have to search and look at the ones you are eligible for.

Now, let’s talk about Tuition Grants.

Tuition Grant

The Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE) provides tuition grant (TG) which covers a substantial portion of the full tuition fees to eligible students. Students who receive the tuition grant are required to pay only the subsidized tuition fee. Only if you apply for a tuition grant, you will be eligible to apply for Financial Aid. 

International students who are interested in obtaining the MOE Tuition Grant to subsidise their tuition fees are required to indicate that they are opting for TG in their online admission application form. If they are offered a Tuition Grant together with their university acceptance, they will need to indicate their decision if they are accepting the offer with or without Tuition Grant. For those who have accepted the admission offer with Tuition Grant, they will need to register for a Tuition Grant after they have obtained their matriculation number. Your matriculation number is the unique identity given to you after you have officially enrolled in the university by accepting your offer.

You will then need to go through two steps:

1. Registration: International students who have accepted both their admission programme offer and MOE TG offer, are required to register online for TG at the Ministry of Education’s website. Two guarantors of any nationality are required. The guarantors must be aged 21 and above but below 65 and must not be an undischarged bankrupt.
2. Signing Agreement: After the TG registration period closes, students who have registered for TG will receive an email inviting them to make an appointment with a university authorised officer to sign the agreement.

Financial Aid

Universities set aside funds for helping both domestic and international students out to cover their expenses in case of financial hardships. Financial aid usually covers tuition fees, living expenses and Hostel Fees. Each university has their own Financial Aid application. International students are eligible to apply for financial assistance only if they have applied for Tuition Grant and have accepted the Tuition Grant agreement. 

Eligibility for financial aid will be based upon:

1. Gross Household Income or GHI, which is the total monthly gross household income of all family members in the household; OR
2. Per Capita Income or PCI, which is the GHI divided by the number of family members in the household.

The different types of financial assistance provided by the university are:

1. Tuition Fee Loan Schemes
2. Study Loans
3. Bursaries
4. Hostel Loans
5. External Schemes

You will be able to apply for these once you have accepted your offer of admission. Every university has its own portal through which you can submit your application.

If you have any questions about scholarship and funding, reach out to our counselors at UniRely. Please visit our website unirely.com to learn more about the process of applying to universities in Singapore for an undergraduate degree.