Wah, Funding

Overview

How you fund your university experience is an important factor that affects the practicality of your university decisions. There are three main sources for funding your education:

1. Your University

2. Non-university sources (from government organisations, private companies, etc)

3. Yourself

This article will help unpack how to obtain funding from 1. universities and 2. non-university sources.

*We currently do not offer information about funding university via student loans. Let us know if you have knowledge of this and are interested in helping us write an article about it!

How much does it cost to go to university?

We have quoted the rough estimates for tuition fees for undergraduate degrees for Singaporeans at universities in the four locations listed below. Please check specific schools and programmes for more accurate information. If you don’t hold Singaporean citizenship, tuition prices may differ. This does not include an estimation of miscellaneous activity fees, the cost of textbooks and materials, and if you are living overseas, living expenses like rent, food and insurance.

1. Singapore (with Tuition Grant): 8000-9000 SGD x 4 years

2. UK: £20,000 x 3/4 years

3. US: approx. 50,000 USD x 4 years

4. Australia: approx. 25,000 AUD x 3/4 years

Part 1: Funding from your University

Part 2: Funding from non-University, third-party scholarships

Guiding Questions

We’ve given you a lot of information, and this list of questions is meant to help you start making sense of what that information means for you. This is a non-exhaustive list of people and organisations who are involved in financing your education, and suggestions of questions you should be asking in relation to each of these actors.

1. Yourself

   1. How much will your education cost?

   2. How urgently do you need financial aid?

   3. How much personal risk are you willing to bear?

      1. Are you willing to take on student loans?

      2. How much do you value certainty of employment? And how much flexibility are you willing to sacrifice for it?

   4. Career

      1. What jobs/ industries are you considering?

      2. To what extent are you flexible/ open to exploring?

      3. Are you open to serving a bond?

2. Your family

   1. What is the extent to which your family can finance your education?

3. Your school

   1. Does your school offer scholarship or funding arrangements?

   2. What are the terms of their funding?

4. Scholarship provider

   1. What are the terms and conditions of this funding?

   2. If you will be bonded, can you see yourself working for this organisation?

      1. The main trade-off is security (of funding, of your first job) vs flexibility to pursue opportunities discovered over the course of university or outside that organisation

      2. What is the vision and culture of the organisation?

      3. What will your future job scope look like?

      4. How does this align with your areas of interest and career aspirations?

         1. What doors does it open

         2. What doors does it close

Don’t panic if you can’t answer these questions right now -- they are difficult questions, but the point is to start the thought process so you can take ownership of your decision. You aren’t alone in making this decision - lots of seniors have gone through this thought process before you, and if it helps you, share your thought process with a family member or a friend. Remember that at the end of the day, there is no right or wrong decision, only the one that you feel is best for yourself.

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