ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship: Eligibility and Benefits for Studying in Singapore

What the scholarship pays for

The ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship is a Singapore Ministry of Education award for students from ASEAN member countries other than Singapore. It pays 100% of your subsidised tuition fee, the rate left after the MOE Tuition Grant is applied, for the normal duration of your degree, up to 4 years for most programmes.

On top of tuition, at the National University of Singapore the scholarship adds a living allowance of S$5,800 a year, an accommodation allowance of S$3,000 a year, and a one-off computer allowance of S$1,750 when you matriculate, according to NUS's Office of Admissions . NTU, SMU, SUTD and SIT administer the same MOE award for their own applicants. Allowance amounts published on each university's site differ slightly, so check the figures on the page of the school you apply to.

Who qualifies

You qualify if you hold citizenship of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste or Vietnam. You apply as a freshman for a full-time undergraduate degree. Students transferring in from another university, local or overseas, are not eligible.

Universities look for strong leadership qualities, an active co-curricular record and outstanding high school results. There is no published minimum grade cutoff. Your full application, academic record, activities and interview performance together decide the outcome.

Merit decides the outcome, not financial need. You do not submit income statements or a financial hardship case. Two applicants with identical grades get different outcomes based on their co-curricular record and interview performance, since the panel reviews the whole profile rather than a single test score.

What the scholarship does not cover

The award pays for the normal duration of your programme only, typically 4 years for most Singapore undergraduate degrees. Extra semesters beyond that, for example if you take a leave of absence or repeat a year, fall outside the standard coverage. The scholarship also stops at undergraduate level: it does not extend to a master's or PhD place at the same university, and it does not carry over automatically if you switch degree programmes partway through your studies.

How you apply

You do not fill out a separate scholarship form. Every eligible international undergraduate applicant gets automatic consideration for the ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship as part of their admission application. Shortlisted candidates go through a selection interview, usually held between January and July, and universities notify results by mid-July, in time for the August intake.

If shortlisted, expect the interview to cover your academic interests, leadership examples from school or community activities, and your reasons for choosing Singapore and your specific programme. Panels look for genuine motivation and clear thinking under questions, not rehearsed answers.

Missing out on the scholarship does not affect your admission outcome. You still enrol as a self-funded student on the Tuition Grant rate, or on full non-subsidised fees, and Singapore's universities run additional university-specific scholarships with separate selection rounds throughout the year.

Apply to your chosen university through its regular international undergraduate admission channel first. Submit strong supporting documents: transcripts, English test scores where required, and a clear record of leadership or community activities. This is the material the scholarship panel reviews. Keep your application complete and submitted before your university's regular international undergraduate deadline, since scholarship consideration runs on the same timeline as admission, not a separate later cycle.

The bond that comes with it

Accepting the scholarship means accepting the MOE Tuition Grant, and the Tuition Grant carries a 3-year work bond. You commit to working full-time for a Singapore-registered company for 3 years right after you graduate. Students admitted to Medicine or Dentistry face a longer bond, 5-6 years, tied to Singapore's Ministry of Health rather than a general employer, according to NUS scholarship terms . Read the full bond agreement before you accept, since breaking it means repaying the subsidy you received.

Keeping the scholarship every semester

The award is not a one-time payment. NUS reviews your record each semester and renews the scholarship if you keep a Cumulative Average Point of at least 3.5, or your university's equivalent grade, along with good conduct. Falling below that bar puts your allowance and tuition coverage for the next semester at risk.

Weighing the tradeoff

The scholarship removes tuition and living costs as a barrier, which matters most if you could not otherwise afford a Singapore degree. The tradeoff is 3 years of your early career tied to a Singapore employer. That suits students who plan to work in Singapore anyway, but limits students who want to return home or move to a third country straight after graduating. Weigh the total value, tuition plus 4 years of allowances, against 3 years of reduced job choice before you decide whether to accept the Tuition Grant that comes attached to it.

For scale, a self-funded international student on full fees at a university like NTU pays roughly S$145,400 in tuition alone over a 4-year non-lab-based degree, before living costs. The ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship replaces that bill with the smaller subsidised rate, and adds over S$36,900 in living, accommodation and computer allowances across 4 years on top. Set that total value against the 3-year bond when you decide.