Marina Bay Sands and the ArtScience Museum reflected in Marina Bay at blue-hour dusk, Singapore.

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Singapore MOE Tuition Grant Scheme

The Tuition Grant Scheme is the single most important piece of Singapore funding for a Sri Lankan student, and it is also the one most often misunderstood. It is not a scholarship in the conventional sense: it is a government subsidy that sharply lowers the fee you pay at Singapore's polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education, its arts institutions and its autonomous universities, and it is offered to Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents and international students alike. What you give in return is a legal commitment. International students who take the grant must serve a three-year bond after graduation, working full time for a Singapore-registered entity. Singapore-based companies here include both local and international firms registered with ACRA, and in some cases their overseas offices. The subsidy is substantial enough that most published international fee figures for NUS, NTU, SMU and the polytechnics are already the post-grant number, with a much higher non-subsidised rate for anyone who declines the grant. For a Sri Lankan family the maths is usually decisive: taking the grant can be the difference between an affordable Singapore degree and an impossible one. But treat the bond as a real obligation, not a formality. Three years of employment in Singapore is a genuine commitment on your career and your family plans, it is legally enforceable with sureties, and you sign a Tuition Grant Agreement before you begin. Think carefully if your intention is to return to Sri Lanka immediately after graduating, or to move onward to another country. Applications are made online through MOE's TG&S Portal at tgs.moe.gov.sg, and you will need sureties to sign the agreement.

Applied for after you receive an offer of admission, through MOE's TG&S Portal. Timelines follow each institution's admission cycle — Singapore's main undergraduate intake is in August

Ministry of Education, Singapore

Government-funded

emoji_events Award Overview

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Value

Major tuition subsidy

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Obligation

3-year Singapore work bond

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Covers

Diploma & undergraduate courses

info How this award actually works

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This is a separate, highly competitive application

Government awards like this one run their own selection round against applicants from across the world, and success rates are usually in the low single digits. Lanka Scholar does not administer it and cannot submit it for you. Treat it as a bonus on top of a funded study plan — never as the plan itself.

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Who awards it

Ministry of Education, Singapore — not Lanka Scholar. We are not the awarding body and cannot grant, reserve or guarantee this award.

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How you are considered

Through a separate application round run by the funder, with its own forms, deadlines and shortlisting. You submit it yourself — it is not part of a university admission application.

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What it covers

Government Tuition Subsidy in Exchange for a 3-Year Work Bond. Read the terms carefully: even fully-funded awards rarely cover every cost, and any shortfall is yours to fund.

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Where we come in

We help you judge whether this award is worth your time, and build a realistic admission plan that works whether or not you win it.

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

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Open to International Students

The scheme covers Singapore Citizens, Singapore Permanent Residents and international students on selected full-time programmes. Sri Lankan students are eligible and this is the main route to affordable fees in Singapore.

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Approved Institutions Only

Grants apply at the polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education, the arts institutions and the autonomous universities. Private colleges and foreign university branch campuses generally sit outside the scheme.

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Three-Year Service Bond

International students who take the grant must work full time for a Singapore-registered entity for three years after graduation. This is a legal undertaking with sureties, not a moral one — read the Tuition Grant Agreement before signing.

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What Counts as a Singapore Employer

Singapore-based companies include local and international companies registered with ACRA, and in some cases branches of such companies based overseas. Confirm your prospective employer qualifies before accepting a job to discharge the bond.

account_tree Application Process

Apply for admission first

Apply to a polytechnic, arts institution or autonomous university through its own admissions process. The Tuition Grant is only relevant once you hold an offer.

Decide on the grant deliberately

Compare the subsidised and non-subsidised fee for your course
Weigh the saving against three years of committed employment in Singapore
Consider whether you want to return to Sri Lanka straight after graduating

Apply through the TG&S Portal

Submit the online application at tgs.moe.gov.sg within the timeframe your institution specifies. You will need sureties to co-sign the Tuition Grant Agreement.

Sign the Tuition Grant Agreement

Complete the agreement with your sureties before your course starts. Keep a copy — the bond terms govern your obligations for years after graduation.

Plan the bond period

Start job-hunting in Singapore well before graduation. Employment must be full time with a qualifying Singapore entity for three years to discharge the bond; enquiries go to MOE_tgonline@moe.gov.sg.

Why the Tuition Grant matters

Singapore's government heavily subsidises tertiary education and extends that subsidy to international students who commit to working in Singapore afterwards. For Sri Lankan students, the grant plus a strong graduate employment market is what makes a Singapore degree financially rational compared with the UK or Australia.

3 yrs

Service Bond

MOE

Administered By

All

Nationalities Eligible

Looking for a scholarship because of the cost?

Then start here instead. Scholarships are competitive, usually partial, and decided by someone else — they are the least reliable way to make studying abroad affordable. Your destination and course choice move the number far more, and both are entirely within your control.

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