NUS Scholarships 2027 for International Students: Who Qualifies and What They Pay

NUS scholarships for international students come in two sets. For undergraduates, the National University of Singapore considers every admission applicant for its freshman scholarships, but most of them are limited by nationality: the ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship is for ASEAN citizens, and the Science and Technology and ABS Goh Keng Swee awards are for citizens of Asian countries. The award open to every nationality except Singaporean is the NUS International Undergraduate Scholarship. For research degrees, the NUS Research Scholarship and the President’s Graduate Fellowship accept applicants from any country.

The undergraduate application window for the August 2027 intake runs from 16 December 2026 to 17 February 2027 for international qualifications. Graduate research deadlines are set by each faculty and some fall as early as 15 November 2026. Below is which award you can get based on your nationality, what each pays, the bond that comes with the tuition grant, and the application steps.

NUS scholarships 2027: who can get what

1. Any nationality (not Singaporean): NUS International Undergraduate Scholarship; NUS Research Scholarship; President’s Graduate Fellowship
2. Citizens of Asian countries: Add Science and Technology Undergraduate Scholarship
3. 15 Asia Pacific economies: Add ABS Goh Keng Swee Scholarship
4. ASEAN citizens: Add ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship
5. Singapore citizens only: NUS Global Merit Scholarship, NUS Merit Scholarship
6. Undergraduate application fee: S$20 (international qualifications)
7. Tuition grant bond: 3 years of work for a Singapore-registered company

Which NUS scholarships are open to international students?

Many scholarship sites list every NUS award as if anyone can apply. Check the nationality line first. This table compares the four freshman scholarships NUS lists for international students with the research awards.

So if you are from Africa, Europe, the Americas or the Middle East, the undergraduate scholarship you can get from NUS is the International Undergraduate Scholarship, plus the tuition grant that comes with any NUS place. A Nigerian, Kenyan or Brazilian applicant, for example, is not eligible for the ASEAN, Science and Technology or ABS awards. The NUS Global Merit Scholarship, which appears on some international lists, is for Singapore citizens only.

NUS undergraduate scholarships: what each one pays

To keep any of these awards you need a GPA of at least 3.5 each semester and good conduct. For the International Undergraduate Scholarship, Dentistry, Law and Medicine students must instead stay in the top 80% of their cohort. You cannot hold another scholarship or grant at the same time without NUS approval, and NUS can ask for the money back if you withdraw.

The MOE Tuition Grant and its bond

Every NUS scholarship above pays the subsidised fee, which only exists if you take the Ministry of Education Tuition Grant. Taking the grant means signing a bond: international students must work for a Singapore-registered company for three years straight after graduation. Medicine and Dentistry graduates instead serve the Ministry of Health for six and five years respectively. You apply on MOE’s TG&S portal, which asks for sureties and a signed Tuition Grant Agreement, and you pay liquidated damages if you break the bond.

The Science and Technology Undergraduate Scholarship goes further and asks for a six-year bond. NUS does not guarantee a job after graduation under any of these awards.

NUS tuition fees for international students (AY2026/2027 intake)

NUS had not published fees for the 2027 intake when I checked. These are the AY2026/2027 annual fees from the NUS Registrar, inclusive of 9% GST, so expect 2027 figures to be similar or a little higher.

NUS estimates living costs at about S$6,000 a year without housing (meals S$2,600, personal S$2,200, transport S$800, books S$400). On-campus housing adds S$4,000 to S$10,290 depending on the hostel and room.

NUS graduate research scholarships

These stipend rates took effect on 1 January 2026. You need at least second-class honours (upper division) or an equivalent to be considered for the Research Scholarship. Funding is limited, and faculties evaluate scholarship applications in rounds, giving priority to the first round.

NUS scholarship deadlines for 2027

Singapore time (SGT) is GMT+8.

Each faculty sets its own research deadline, so check yours on the faculty site. For a scholarship, apply by the earliest date your faculty lists.

Entry and English requirements

Undergraduate

NUS lists accepted qualifications by country. If your school-leaving exam is not on the list (WAEC/WASSCE, NECO and many African and Latin American exams are not), you apply under “Other High School Qualifications” and must add standardised tests. NUS asks for one of these combinations:

AP Calculus BC is compulsory for every programme except Law. Send scores through College Board (code 3720) or ACT (code 5286) and upload them too, or your application counts as incomplete. Applicants who sit their final school exams after the closing date cannot apply for Dentistry, Law or Medicine.

The “Other High School Qualifications” page does not ask for IELTS or TOEFL. After you enrol, students without the required English qualifications sit the NUS Qualifying English Test, and a low band means extra English courses before graduation.

Graduate research

If your first language, or the language of your bachelor’s degree, is not English, you need TOEFL or IELTS. Scores vary by faculty. The Faculty of Science and the medical school both ask for IELTS 7.0 or TOEFL 5.0 on the new scale (94 or 95 on the old scale). If your degree was taught fully in English, Science accepts proof of that instead; ask your university for a medium-of-instruction letter. A GRE is strongly encouraged for science, engineering, computing and medicine PhDs.

How to apply for NUS scholarships

Undergraduate steps

1. Find your applicant group on the NUS Office of Admissions site and check programme prerequisites.
2. Book SAT, ACT and AP early if your qualification needs them, since AP exams only run in May.
3. Submit one application on the NUS Applicant Portal within your window and upload all documents.
4. Pay the S$20 fee in the portal by Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, AliPay or PayNow. Foreign cards carry a 3.15% processing charge; bank transfers and overseas debit cards are not accepted.
5. Wait for the “Acknowledgement of Application” email (check spam). Your application only counts as complete once you have it, all uploads and the fee.
6. You are considered for scholarships automatically. Only shortlisted applicants are emailed for interviews, between January and July.

Graduate research steps

1. Choose a research programme and read the faculty’s deadline and admission page.
2. Apply through NUS GradApp and select the Research Scholarship under source of finance. The Faculty of Science charges S$50 per application.
3. Upload transcripts, degree certificates, a statement of purpose, CV, referee details, English and GRE scores.
4. Ask referees early. Our recommendation letter guide has templates you can share with them.
5. Apply directly. NUS does not use agents for graduate recruitment and may reject applications sent through one.

Documents checklist

Keep originals. Admitted undergraduates must bring original identity documents and results for verification when term starts, and NUS can expel students who do not.

After the offer: the Student’s Pass

Your university registers you on the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s SOLAR system, and you complete eForm 16 no more than two months before your course starts. Fees for Singapore universities, as published by NTU for 2026, are a S$45 processing fee, a S$60 issuance fee and S$30 for a multiple-journey visa if ICA requires one. Processing takes about one week, or about two weeks if you need a visa. Scholarship award letters help if ICA asks how you will pay.

Is NUS worth it without an ASEAN or Asian passport?

For undergraduates outside Asia, the numbers are hard. You compete for one scholarship, the International Undergraduate Scholarship, and you also need SAT or ACT plus AP scores most schools outside the US system do not offer. Without the scholarship, even with the tuition grant you pay about S$21,400 a year plus living costs, and you owe three years of work in Singapore. I would apply only if you can get the AP courses and the family could cover the grant-reduced fee as a fallback.

For PhD applicants, NUS is very open. The Research Scholarship has no nationality limit and no bond. If you are also looking at Hong Kong, compare it with our University of Hong Kong scholarships guide, where the top PhD package pays more but has an earlier December deadline.

FAQ on NUS scholarships

Can international students outside Asia get NUS undergraduate scholarships?

Yes, but only the NUS International Undergraduate Scholarship, which is open to any nationality except Singaporean. The ASEAN, Science and Technology and ABS Goh Keng Swee awards are restricted to ASEAN or Asian citizens.

Is the NUS scholarship bond compulsory?

The International Undergraduate Scholarship itself has no bond, but it requires the MOE Tuition Grant, which carries a three-year bond to work for a Singapore-registered company. The NUS Research Scholarship has no bond.

Do I need SAT to apply to NUS from Africa?

If your qualification is not on NUS’s list, such as WASSCE or NECO, yes. You need SAT or ACT with Writing plus three AP courses, or five AP courses, with AP Calculus BC for most programmes.

How much is the NUS Research Scholarship stipend for international students?

S$3,000 a month for a PhD, rising to S$3,500 after the qualifying exam, and S$2,900 for a research master’s, with tuition fully waived. These rates have applied since 1 January 2026.

Sources and updates

Undergraduate scholarship terms come from the NUS Office of Admissions pages for the NUS International Undergraduate Scholarship, the ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship, the Science and Technology Undergraduate Scholarship, the ABS Goh Keng Swee Scholarship and the NUS Global Merit Scholarship. Dates come from the NUS admissions important dates page, and the fee and payment rules from its application overview. Test requirements come from the Other High School Qualifications page and NUS’s standardised test guide; the QET comes from the NUS Centre for English Language Communication. Tuition fees come from the NUS Registrar’s AY2026/2027 fee schedule, living costs from NUS’s living costs page, and the bond from the Ministry of Education Tuition Grant page. Research funding comes from the NUS Graduate School pages on the NUS Research Scholarship and President’s Graduate Fellowship and the NUSGS admissions FAQ; deadlines and English scores come from the Faculty of Science, College of Design and Engineering and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. Student’s Pass fees come from NTU’s Student’s Pass guide. Information checked on 24 October 2026. I will update this post when NUS publishes AY2027/2028 fees.

Jude Chinecherem

I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.