Education is one of the most expensive aspects of modern life. University is seen as a must in order to get a good job and have a good life in general. Singapore is no different in this regard, and thousands of students each year take higher education. Unfortunately, universities or college education is still extremely expensive, and many people have to find other avenues through which they can afford their education. In this article, we’re going to focus on four main ways. Bursaries, Grants, Student loans, and Bank loans. Each of these has its own advantages and disadvantages, so we will look through each and see.
While you may be lucky enough to have enough saved to take you through the entirety of your university years, or take up a part time job to supplement your income, odds are that you may need some kind of financial aid to help soften the blow.
1. Bursaries
A bursary is a type of financial aid which is allocated by the Ministry of education and then having individual schools choosing who to give it to. While the amount given is usually not that much, bursaries do not need to be repaid and don’t have any obligations.
You can apply for them every year as long as you fit the requirements. The amount of money that a student gets from a bursary depends on his or her family’s income.
Based on the Ministry of Education’s requirements, only students with a per capita income of less than $1900 per month are eligible for bursaries. The PCI is simply the total income of your family divide by the amount of members.
The actual requirements can vary a little depending on the school you’re in and which bursary you’re applying to.
The great thing about bursaries is that they are really easy to apply to. In most schools, it is as simple as logging in to your student account and filling out the form. But you do need to provide proof of income in a CPF or income tax statement.
Thousands of students use the bursary system to help with their tuition fees every year.
Advantages
– No interest or repayments in the future
– If you apply every year, you will have financial aid for your entire university course
Disadvantages
– If you do not pass the course, then you stand a high chance of having bursary
2. Grants
Grants are a type of aid that’s given out either by the government or a corporation. They differ from scholarships in that they are need base, rather than merit base as scholarships are. Meaning that the most disadvantage will have priority when they are selecting. Rather than the person with the most intellectual, athletic, or any other type of achievement.
Grants, just like bursaries, will not need to be repaid, but comes with the obligation depending on which organization has given it out. For example, a scholarship from a corporation may require you to work with them for a couple of years, or one from a university would have you being an ambassador for them.
Scholarship are given out by many different government, college, and third party organizations to students. The selection process is base on merit. For example, how well the student has perform in school or extra curricular activities.
They sometimes cover the entire tuition fee, and include extra cash for living expense and other needs during university life.
3. Loans
If you don’t qualify for the previous 2 aids, you don’t need to worry. You can get a loan from a bank which would probably be more comprehensive than either one. Student loans will help cover the entire cost of university, including books, tuition, and living costs.
The downside of loans is that you will need to repay it. But their interest rates are lower than the other types of loans and the repayment period is much longer, and there’s also a grace period after university before you need to start making payments, so you can already have a job and be able to pay.
4. Tuition Grant
The fourth and final type of grant is the tuition grant. The tuition grant is introduce to Singapore in 1980 to fund the costs of higher education in the country. The scheme is available to students enrolled in a diploma or undergraduate course in 13 colleges such as:
– Nanyang Technological University
– Singapore Institute of Technology
– Singapore University of Technology and Design
The chosen applicants have their costs partially covered for a period of up to 4 years. It is available to both permanent residents and non Singaporean students.
However, the grantees are require to sign an agreement that binds them to service to the country for 3 years after college.
5. Scholarships
Scholarships are a type of merit base financial aid. They are usually given out to people who are astounding or have lots of achievements in one area such as sports or academics. So you may get a soccer scholarship to get to university or because you have good grades, you are let in.
They are either hand out by the institutions themselves, the government, or some organization, with certain conditions. For example in the soccer scholarship we mention earlier, you may be require to play in the college’s team. And if you injure yourself or find that you are unable to play anymore, then the scholarship will be revoke.
They are also extremely competitive, in that they have many people applying for the same limited position, and so you should work your best to craft the best essays or excel in a specified criteria.
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