SINGAPORE – Undergraduates from the neediest households – those with per capita income of up to $1,100 – will not have to pay tuition fees at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in the new academic year.
NTU will top up existing government bursaries to fully subsidise tuition fees for these students from August 2024, the university said on Feb 2.
More than 3,000 undergraduates are expected to benefit from this enhanced financial aid scheme, which adds to the range of financial assistance schemes that help ease educational and living expenses of students from low-income families.
NTU president Ho Teck Hua said: “We want to ensure that every student, regardless of financial background, has access to the rich and well-rounded university experience that NTU offers.”
Currently, bursary holders have at least 54 per cent of their tuition fees subsidised, NTU said.
These students, if they qualify, can offset the balance of their tuition fees through additional scholarships and bursaries.
They will be required to apply every year for the financial aid, subject to approval from the financial aid office.
NTU is ramping up fund-raising efforts to build an endowment fund to ensure that its neediest students will continue to enjoy full coverage of their tuition fees.
“We are committed to doing all that we can to give students who are most in need of support a fair shot at achieving their full potential,” said Professor Ho.
In 2022, the National University of Singapore (NUS) announced a similar scheme, where its full-time Singapore undergraduates do not need to pay tuition fees if they come from homes with per capita income of up to $1,000. Those in general courses such as the humanities and sciences receive an additional $2,300 to $7,000 a year in financial aid.
Mr Ng Tze Kean and his younger sister, both in the penultimate year of their course at NTU, said that having financial support eased their worries, allowing them to pursue internships in their fields of study.
Mr Ng, 24, said that the Covid-19 pandemic was a hard time for their father, who struggled with changes in his job and the death of the siblings’ paternal grandmother.
Their father currently does freelance work repairing electronic items, while their mother is a housewife.
Mr Ng, who is studying computer science and engineering, has just completed a stint as a data analyst intern at ADDX, a private market exchange company. Prior to this, he had done finance and data analysis internships at other firms.
“Without the financial help, I would be swamped with other commitments to ensure that my family has enough money to tide over the next month,” said Mr Ng, who works as a part-time tutor.
His sister, Ms Ng Sin Ru, said that in the past, she sometimes had to help Mr Ng with his tutoring gig.
“With the bursary, we were able to free up time for ourselves to experience school life. For instance, I could take on internship roles to build my resume instead of doing multiple part-time jobs,” the 22-year-old accounting student said.
Ms Ng has just completed an internship in financial reporting at Far East Organization, after another internship at consulting firm EY.
She is currently in Hong Kong for an exchange programme, while her brother will be heading to China in February.
Both siblings are recipients of the Ng Bok Eng Scholarship, which helps to defray overseas expenditure.
Mr Ng, who is also a recipient of the Tan Sri Dr Runme Shaw Scholarship, which provides financial support, said: “I never thought I would have the opportunity to actually be part of an overseas exchange this year because the cost of going overseas is very high.
“But with my tuition fees subsidised and the help of the two scholarships, a faraway dream is becoming a reality.”
