Outgoing Students

Experience Southeast Asia Award (ESA)

As part of NUS’ continuous efforts to encourage undergraduates to have an international experience in Southeast Asia, funding is available for full-time undergraduate students who are in eligible programmes in Southeast Asia.

Quantum

The ESA provides an award of up to S$1,000 per student, subject to the eligibility criteria and applicable terms and conditions.

The award quantum is determined based on the eligible total programme cost, comprising: programme/tuition fee + economy airfare + accommodation.

A minimum eligible total programme cost of S$500 is required for the ESA. Programmes with an eligible total programme cost below S$500 will not qualify for an ESA award. This minimum established as part of the ESA funding policy.


Quantum Table:

Eligible Total Programme Cost
(Programme/tuition fee + economy airfare + accommodation)        		  ESA Award    
 Below S$500
  No award
 S$500 to S$999  S$500
 S$1,000 and above  S$1,000



Eligible Programmes 

  • NUS administered Summer or Winter programmes
  • Self-Sourced Summer or Winter programmes*
  • Conference, Competition, Workshop*
  • Field or Study Trip*

*Must be endorsed by NUS Global and/or NUS Staff Advisor and registered via EduRec system.

Eligibility Criteria 

  • NUS Full-time undergraduates.
  • Have not received ESA before.
  • Acceptance (or at least in-principle acceptance) into an overseas programme held in SEA prior to applying for this funding; programme should have a minimum duration of 7 days**.
  • Successful application and completion of overseas programme in EduRec.
  • Students in their final semester of study may apply provided the overseas programme is completed before the conferment dates.
  • Overseas programmes not eligible include
    • Study Trips for Engagement and EnRichment (STEER)
    • Southeast Asia Friendship Initiative (SFI)
    • Temasek Foundation – NUS Leadership Enrichment and Regional Networking (TF - NUS LEaRN)
    • Overseas Community Service Projects
    • Trips that are not part of a programme (e.g. individual field research)
    • Student Exchange Programme (SEP)

**The fly-in/fly-out day will only be counted if there is at least 6 hours of scheduled programme activities on those days.  

Terms & Conditions 

  • Students may receive at most ONE (1) ESA funding award during their undergraduate study in NUS.
  • This award cannot be held concurrently with any other overseas programme awards
  • NUS reserves the right to fully or partially recall the award if the overseas programme is cancelled, suspended, not completed at the host university, or if any award obligations are not fulfilled.
  •  The award does not carry a bond. However, all awardees are expected to be NUS ambassadors. 

Application Timeline, Procedure and Outcome

Application

Please submit your application via EduRec (under "Global Education - Financial Aid") after you have accepted the offer of the short-term programme2.

2 • For NUS administered short-term programmes (listed on EduRec):

Apply for the award after you have successfully applied for the programme via EduRec (under Global Education - Financial Aid)

• For all other eligible programmes:

You must submit an endorsement* (refer to Endorsement Process) before applying for the programme in EduRec. Only students who receive endorsement and successfully apply for the programme are eligible to apply for the award.

* Endorsement must be submitted and approved before the start of the study trip.

Endorsement Process

To ensure that programmes offered outside of NUS Global meet certain requirements (min. 7 days, relevant content and region) and parity across programmes, they will need to be endorsed by NUS Global and/or NUS Staff advisors/Faculty Mentors/ Course Coordinators for student clubs before application on EduRec to be considered for an award.

For Self- Sourced Summer or Winter programmes, Conference, Competition, Workshop and Field or Study Trip, submit your endorsement here.

Application outcome and acceptance of offer

Students will be notified of the application outcome via NUS email account. All eligibility criteria must be met before accepting the offer via myEduRec.

Upon accepting the award, students must promptly update their ‘Receiving Bank Account’ (Credit Bank Account) details via myEduRec.

Application period   
  • Round 1: 1 Aug to 30 Sep    
  • Round 2: 1 Oct to 31 Dec
  • Round 3: 1 Jan to 28 Feb
  • Round 4: 1 Mar to 31 Jul
Application outcome & acceptance of offer        
  • Round 1: 1 Nov to 14 Nov
  • Round 2: 1 Feb to 14 Feb
  • Round 3: 1 Apr to 14 Apr
  • Round 4: 1 Sep to 14 Sep
Bursary disbursement3  
  • For round 1: by 14 Dec
  • For round 2: by 14 Mar
  • For round 3: by 14 May
  • For round 4: by 14 Oct

3 Disbursement to students shall be made only upon successful completion of the programmes and submission of all required supporting documents.

Queries:

For further queries, please email nasa@nus.edu.sg