Scholarships and Student Financial Aid in Laos: What Exists and How to Apply

Government scholarship quotas

The Lao government, through the Ministry of Education and Sports, sets aside scholarship quotas every year for students moving into upper secondary school and university. Provincial Education and Sports offices identify eligible pupils, including top scorers in the national exam, students who earn "red certificate" honors, top performers from each province, and students from ethnic minority, disadvantaged or disability backgrounds, according to National University of Laos . NUOL itself reserves about 10 percent of its intake for top performers in the national exam.

Recipients study tuition-free and receive a monthly living allowance. There is no single national online application portal, so ask your provincial Education and Sports office or your school's guidance counselor how to apply, since selection usually happens through your secondary school and district office rather than a direct university application.

Laos Australia National Scholarship (LANS)

LANS is a bilateral program between the governments of Laos and Australia for undergraduate study inside Laos, at NUOL or Souphanouvong University, run through the Laos Australia Institute . It targets disadvantaged young people from rural districts, prioritizing women, ethnic minority students, students with disabilities, and applicants from target provinces. The scholarship covers tuition and allowances plus an academic support program in English, IT and job readiness, along with pastoral care. Contact the Laos Australia Institute directly for the current application window and required documents, since the program does not publish a fixed yearly deadline online.

University and institutional aid

Beyond the national quota, individual universities administer their own smaller pools of fee waivers and merit awards, usually for top-ranked students within a faculty. Private colleges, including the Lao American Institute in Vientiane, commonly offer installment payment plans and partial fee discounts tied to academic performance or participation in school activities rather than a formal scholarship. Ask your faculty's student affairs office what internal awards exist before you assume you need to look outside the university.

Private and corporate scholarships

Corporate donors also fund scholarships for Lao students. SCG's "Sharing the Dream" program, run by the Thai company's Lao trading arm, has granted scholarships to underprivileged secondary students in rural provinces since the mid-2010s, distributed through school visits and local officials, according to Lao news agency KPL . Community and diaspora foundations, such as the Jai Lao Foundation , also run scholarship rounds for Lao students. Availability and award numbers change year to year, so check each organization's page directly ahead of the academic year you plan to enroll.

Funding routes into study abroad

If domestic funding does not cover what you need, or you want to study outside Laos, government-to-government scholarships from Australia, Japan, Singapore and the UK, plus regional development bank programs, are worth researching separately. See our companion guide on study abroad scholarships for Lao students for the main options and how to apply.

What these scholarships typically leave out

Even a full scholarship quota usually leaves gaps: transport to campus, phone and internet, books beyond the core set, and clothing. Build these into your household budget rather than assuming a scholarship covers every cost, and pair a scholarship with the part-time work and family-support strategies covered in our guide to student life in Laos.

How to apply: timing and documents

Most domestic scholarship cycles align with the academic year, so start gathering documents 3 to 6 months before your school's application window opens. You typically need your household registration, proof of income or hardship for need-based quotas, transcripts, and a recommendation from your school or district office. Apply to more than one route where you are eligible, since quota-based and institutional awards run on separate timelines and do not exclude each other.