Quantum
The minimum and maximum loan amounts for the respective overseas programme are specified in the table below. Students who are already in receipt of a bursary or scholarship that covers part of the expenses for the OSP, may apply for the HELS-OSP component to cover the balance loan quantum. The loan quantum should be sufficient to cover all or part of the following expenses.
- Accommodation expenses
- Living expenses (food, transport, personal expenses, etc)
- Airfare
- Books and supplies
- Medical health/insurance
- Immigration/administration fees
| List of Overseas Student Programmes (OSP) |
Min Loan |
Max Loan |
| SEP |
S$3,000 |
S$12,000 |
| NOC |
- |
- |
| Internship |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| Summer/Winter Programme |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| Clinical Attachment |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| Competition/ Conference/ Moot |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| Community Project |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| Field Trip |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| Study Visit |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| Immersion |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| Research |
S$2,000 |
S$5,000 |
| JD/DDP |
S$3,000 |
S$12,000 |
Eligibility Criteria
- Students with per capita gross monthly household income (PCI)* of S$3,500 and below for the academic year of the exchange programme will be considered, subject to availability of funds.
- The student must be pursuing an undergraduate course and has obtained NUS’ approval to participate in a university approved OSP.
- Singapore citizen undergraduates.
- The student cannot concurrently hold another loan, award, bursary or scholarship that covers the full cost of the programme.
*Monthly (PCI) is computed based on total monthly gross household income (GHI) divided by the number of family members living in the same household as the student loan applicant.
(for OSP Loan taken before 1 May 26)
The maximum loan repayment period is 5 years.
Repayment should commence not later than two years after graduation or upon securing employment, whichever is earlier and shall be made through OCBC Bank.
Repayment may be made in one lump sum or by equal monthly instalments (minimum of S$100 per month). In the event that there is any unutilized loan amount at the end of the OSP, students may return the amount to the bank as part of the loan settlement.
Interest on the OSP Loan shall start accruing after graduation from such date as the Bank notifies in writing, and such interest shall be based on the Interest Rate, or such other rates as may be determined from time to time by the Bank.
Interest Rate is set by the Bank on 1 April and 1 October of each year, based on the sum of the 3-month compounded Singapore Overnight Rate Average as published by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“SORA”) on 1 March and 1 September of that year respectively; and an additional 1.5 percentage points.
Application Period
Completed application form and supporting documents are to be submitted at least two months prior to departing for the Overseas Student Programme.
Application Procedure
Prerequisite
A Financial Aid application for the same academic year of the overseas programme must be submitted through the Applicant Portal. All relevant supporting documents must be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid (OFA), which administers the Financial Aid applications.
Application
Student must complete an Application Form (typewritten).
Important Notes:
- To be considered for the HESL-OSP component, a complete Financial Aid application is required.
- Students who have already submitted a Financial Aid application for the relevant academic year prior to the application of their overseas programme do not need to submit a new Financial Aid application.
Documents required for processing of the OSP loan are:
- Letter of Approval for SEP from Registrar’s Office/ Faculty or Letter of Approval for OSP from Faculty/ Global Relations Office, whichever applies.
- Acceptance Letter from Partner University (compulsory if you are going for Student Exchange Programme).
- For the letter of Approval for SEP, you may contact your faculty exchange coordinator to find out how to get the letter. The SEP Administrators Contact List can be found under Global Programmes page - Outgoing Exchangers.
- For short-term programmes administered by Global Relations Office, you may refer to the website i-SP Application Guide to access the form to request for the letter (under 'Acceptance of i-SP' section).
* Please note that your application will not be considered if the above-stated documents are not provided.
Students are to submit the completed application form and its supporting documents for a preliminary check to the HESL-OSP team via osp@nus.edu.sg using your NUS email. Upon receiving your soft copy, an email will be sent to the student for the password.
Your email should be as follows:
- Email header- “HESL OSP Component Application [Your name] [Last 4 characters of your NUS Matric Number. E.g 123A]
- Password protection of all documents. (Do not share the password in the same email content. We will reach out to students to retrieve the password)
Following the successful preliminary check, students will be informed to apply for HESL-OSP component in StudentLoanSG (SLSG) portal.
Result
Students will be informed of the result of the loan application via SLSG portal. Refer to SLSG portal for the latest information.
Disbursement
Once the HESL-OSP component is approved by the bank, it will be disbursed to the Student Account in EduRec. The full amount of the student's loan will be refunded within two weeks of the disbursement.
To facilitate the refund, students are to update their 'Receiving Bank Account' via Education Records System.
Queries:
For any queries on HESL OSP component, please contact us via osp@nus.edu.sg