FINANCIAL AID

The Opportunity Enhancement Grant provides S$10,000 to top up existing financial aid schemes for on-campus accommodation (applicable for both room charges and meal plans) and overseas exposure programmes such as Student Exchange Programme (SEP), Summer/Winter Programme, Research Attachment, Internship or Industrial Attachment. This is tenable for the duration of the degree programme.       

Needy full-time Singapore Citizen undergraduate students whose monthly household per capita income (PCI) is not more than S$750 for Academic Year 2023/2024 in any of the semesters during their candidature.

Note: Undergraduates pursuing the Concurrent Degree Programmes will not be eligible for the grant once they are charged graduate tuition fees.

• Recipients are allowed to concurrently hold the Opportunity Enhancement Grant with all University-administered scholarship, bursary, grant or free aid. However, adjustments may be made to ensure that the combined provision of financial aid does not exceed on-campus accommodation or overseas exposure programme expenses.
• The grant is claimable only from the semester it is awarded. No retrospective claims are allowed, i.e. recipients are not allowed to use the grant for payment of on-campus accommodation or overseas exposure programmes participated in semesters prior to when the grant is awarded and recipients are not allowed to apply to use the grant for the previous/current semester once the registration for the upcoming semester has started. 
• There is no restriction on the amount a recipient can utilise from the Opportunity Enhancement Grant each semester as long as the total approved amount used during the normal candidature period of the recipient’s undergraduate programme does not exceed S$10,000. If the Opportunity Enhancement Grant is not fully utilised during their candidature, it will lapse upon graduation or when the recipient pursuing a Concurrent Degree Programme is charged graduate tuition fees.
• To utilise the grant, recipients are required to register grant usage purpose for the semester(s) they are staying on campus or participating in overseas exposure programmes. Successful applicants who have accepted the grant, will receive grant registration details on their NUS email account before the start of each academic year.
• In the event that the recipient withdraws from the on-campus stay or overseas programme, or is awarded bursaries, scholarships, grants or free aid after the disbursement of the Opportunity Enhancement Grant, the Opportunity Enhancement Grant disbursed will be withdrawn or adjusted respectively, and the withdrawn or excess amount will have to be returned. Affected recipients should notify the Office of Financial Aid at https://www.askadmissions.nus.edu.sg/

OEG for On-Campus Accommodation

• The grant can be used to fund the cost for on-campus stay during normal semesters only. The grant cannot be used for on-campus stays during the vacation periods.

OEG For Overseas Programmes

• The grant can be used to fund participation costs for all overseas programme types available in the Education Records System-Global Education (EduRec-GE) portal, except for the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programmes and courses where study trips are supported by the South-East Asia Funding Initiative (SFI).

• Academic Competition/ Conference/ Workshop
• Community/ Project/ Service Learning
• Field/ Study Trip
• Joint/ Concurrent/ Double Degree/ Double Master Programme
• Non-academic Enrichment/ Sports Activities
• Research Attachment/ Internship/ Industrial Attachment
• Semester(s) Abroad
• Student Exchange Programme (SEP)
• Summer/ Winter Programme

To be considered for the Opportunity Enhancement Grant, you are required to apply for Financial Aid here.

Application to use Opportunity Enhancement Grant for on-campus stay

The Opportunity Enhancement Grant for accommodation will be processed when recipients of the Opportunity Enhancement Grant have registered their grant usage purpose for the semester(s) as staying on campus.

Application to use Opportunity Enhancement Grant for overseas exposure programme

Overseas programme types available in the EduRec-GE portal will be eligible for the Opportunity Enhancement Grant, except for the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programmes and credit-bearing courses where study trips are supported by the South-East Asia Funding Initiative (SFI).

The Opportunity Enhancement Grant for overseas programmes will be processed when recipients have: 

• Registered their grant usage purpose for the semester(s) that they are participating in overseas exposure programmes; and
• Submitted and accepted their overseas programme in the EduRec-GE portal. (Medicine students are required to submit their overseas elective programmes in the NUSMed Electives portal for endorsement instead of the EduRec-GE portal. Nursing students are required to submit their overseas exchange programmes to their School for endorsement instead of the EduRec-GE portal.)

Upon the successful processing of the Opportunity Enhancement Grant, the Office of Finance will credit the funds to the recipients’ Credit Bank Account in EduRec. As the grant is a top-up to existing financial aid available for on-campus stay and overseas exposure programmes, grant amounts to be disbursed every semester will be determined by the University according to the following disbursement policy:

• All bursaries, scholarships, grants or free aid meant for on-campus accommodation will be used to offset the hostel fees first, before the Opportunity Enhancement Grant is disbursed to cover the remaining fees.
• Students who are disbursed the Opportunity Enhancement Grant but withdraw from the hostel stay or overseas programme subsequently will have their grant withdrawn, and the disbursed grant amount will have to be returned.
• If recipients are awarded any bursary, scholarship, grant or free aid after grant disbursement, the grant amount will be adjusted accordingly and the excess amount will need to be returned.

OEG For Overseas Programmes

• For overseas exposure programmes, the Opportunity Enhancement Grant will be disbursed based on estimated overseas programme costs predetermined by the Office of Financial Aid, which includes airfare, accommodation, living expenses, application^#, tuition^# and programme fees^#  (^# not applicable for Student Exchange Programme), after deducting all bursaries, scholarships, grants or free aid meant for the overseas programme from the estimated expenses amount as determined by the University.
  
• The predetermined estimated cost factors in the study location (i.e., country) and duration of study. It is estimated based on the cost a typical student participating in a similar overseas programme will incur. The actual cost could be higher or lower depending on each student’s expenditure and lifestyle.
• The grant will only be disbursed after recipients have accepted the eligible overseas programme offered in the EduRec-GE portal. The grant amount disbursed is final and appeals will not be considered.
• Students who are disbursed the Opportunity Enhancement Grant but withdraw from the hostel stay or overseas programme subsequently will have their grant withdrawn, and the disbursed grant amount will have to be returned.

• If recipients are awarded any bursary, scholarship, grant or free aid after grant disbursement, the grant amount will be adjusted accordingly and the excess amount will need to be returned. 

*    Monthly household per capita income refers to the total gross monthly income of all those living in the household divided by the number of persons in the household.