Scholarships ASEAN Students Can Use to Study in Another Member Country

Why look at intra-ASEAN scholarships

Studying in a neighboring ASEAN country costs less than heading to the West and keeps you closer to home, and several ASEAN governments and universities fund exactly this route. These scholarships prioritize regional applicants, so you compete against a smaller, more comparable pool than you would in a global scholarship competition.

Compare the main options

Singapore: ASEAN Scholarship

Singapore's Ministry of Education runs the ASEAN Scholarship for citizens of the other nine ASEAN member states, funding secondary school and pre-university (junior college) study at a Singapore school before you move on to a local or overseas university. Entry level depends on your home country: Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia applicants enter at Secondary 1, every eligible country applies for Secondary 3 entry, and Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand applicants also enter at Pre-university 1. Application windows differ by country too: Brunei, Thailand, and Vietnam applicants apply January to March, Indonesia and Philippines applicants apply January to February, Malaysia applicants apply January to April, and Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar applicants apply April to May.

Thailand: Chulalongkorn University ASEAN track

Chulalongkorn University gives priority to applicants from ASEAN and Greater Mekong Subregion countries in its graduate scholarship funds, which cover tuition and a monthly stipend for master's and PhD study. You apply for admission to your target program first, then go through a separate scholarship review, with deadlines set faculty by faculty rather than on one university-wide date.

Indonesia: KNB scholarship

Indonesia's KNB scholarship funds bachelor's, master's, and PhD study at Indonesian universities for citizens of its partner developing countries, a group that includes several ASEAN neighbors such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. A full award covers tuition, a monthly stipend, health insurance, and return airfare, and you apply once a year through the KNB online portal .

Malaysia: MTCP scholarship

Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs runs MTCP, funding postgraduate study, professional attachments, and short training courses for developing-country nationals, including ASEAN neighbors such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Applications for most MTCP programs route through your home government or the Malaysian embassy in your country, not directly to the Malaysian university.

Other regional funding to check

University-level and faculty-level scholarships also exist outside these named national programs. The ASEAN University Network runs joint academic mobility and postgraduate initiatives among member universities, including engineering-focused cooperation through its SEED-Net program, and individual universities across the region add their own fee waivers for ASEAN citizens outside any of the schemes above. Check your target university's international office page directly, since coverage and eligibility for these smaller awards change often and rarely appear in national scholarship databases.

How to choose

• Match the scholarship to your current stage: Singapore's ASEAN Scholarship suits secondary and pre-university students, while KNB, MTCP, and Chulalongkorn's track suit university-level applicants.

• Check whether the application routes through a portal (KNB) or your home government (MTCP), since the second option adds a nomination step you need to start earlier.

• Read the bond or return-service terms in your award letter before you accept, since several of these programs expect you to return home or serve a bond period after graduation.

• Apply to more than one option if you qualify for several, since award numbers are limited and competition varies by cycle.

What these scholarships expect in return

Most intra-ASEAN scholarships attach some form of expectation after graduation, whether a formal bond, an informal request to return home, or a preference for candidates already working in a related field. Singapore's post-secondary and university funding routes typically come with a service obligation once you reach the university stage. Indonesia's KNB and Malaysia's MTCP both frame themselves as development partnerships, expecting scholars to apply what they learned back in their home country rather than settle permanently in the host country.

Read every award letter in full before you sign, since the specific bond length, penalty for breaking it, and any exceptions differ by program and sometimes by intake year. A scholarship that looks identical to another on the surface sometimes carries a different return-service commitment underneath.

Building a realistic shortlist

Start with your current education stage, since that alone rules out most of these options immediately. A secondary school student looks at Singapore's ASEAN Scholarship, while a university graduate looks at KNB, MTCP, or a Chulalongkorn faculty track. From there, filter by field: KNB and Chulalongkorn cover almost any academic discipline through their partner universities and faculties, while MTCP leans toward development-linked fields such as public administration, agriculture, engineering, and health.

Language readiness narrows the list further. If you need an English-medium program, filter for that explicitly inside KNB and Chulalongkorn's offerings, since both host universities that teach in the local language as well as English. Once you match stage, field, and language, you usually end up with one or two realistic options rather than all four, which makes your application effort easier to focus.