Quick Read
- Indian students qualify for three NUS scholarships, not twelve.
- The ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship excludes India entirely.
- No separate application: your admission form is considered automatically.
- Every NUS scholarship requires taking the bonded MOE Tuition Grant.
- Science & Technology Scholarship pays Rs.4.48 lakh yearly living allowance.
- An NUS PhD pays international students Rs.2.24 lakh monthly.
NUS Scholarships for Indian Students: The Three Scholarships You Can Actually Win
NUS lists eleven undergraduate scholarships on its admissions site. An Indian passport holder is eligible for three of them.
That gap is where most applicants lose weeks. Search results routinely list the NUS Global Merit Scholarship and the NUS Merit Scholarship as options for Indian students. Both are restricted to Singapore Citizens. So are the NUS Undergraduate Scholarship, the AI Talent Scholarship, the Sports Scholarship and the Performing & Visual Arts Scholarship.
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Here is the full picture, filtered by nationality.
| Scholarship | Open to Indian citizens? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| NUS Global Merit Scholarship | No | Singapore Citizens only |
| NUS Merit Scholarship | No | Singapore Citizens only |
| NUS Undergraduate Scholarship | No | Singapore Citizens only |
| NUS AI Talent Scholarship | No | Singapore Citizens only |
| NUS Sports Scholarship | No | Singapore Citizens only |
| NUS Performing & Visual Arts Scholarship | No | Singapore Citizens only |
| ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship | No | Requires ASEAN citizenship. India is not an ASEAN member |
| Science & Technology Undergraduate Scholarship | Yes | Open to Asian nationals, but only for Computing, Engineering and Science majors |
| NUS International Undergraduate Scholarship | Yes | Open to citizens of all countries except Singapore, any programme |
| ABS – Goh Keng Swee Scholarship | Yes | India is one of 15 named Asia Pacific economies |
| LKY-STEP Award, University Engineering Scholarship | No | Local Polytechnic Diploma holders |
The ASEAN exclusion trips up the most people, so it is worth being precise. NUS names the member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. India does not appear, and no amount of academic strength changes that.
The same pattern repeats at doctoral level. NUS College of Design and Engineering lists an NUS ASEAN Research Scholarship for PhD candidates, also restricted to international students from ASEAN countries.
Counselor insight: Students arrive with a shortlist of six NUS scholarships they intend to "apply for" and are surprised that four of them were never available. Before you write a single essay, open the NUS scholarship page for international freshmen and read the nationality line on each award. It takes ten minutes and saves a month.
If you are still deciding on the country itself, our study in Singapore guide covers the wider picture.
What the Main NUS Scholarships Pay, in Rupees
Both university-level awards cover subsidised tuition in full and add cash allowances on top. The difference is in the allowances and the restrictions.
| Benefit | NUS International Undergraduate Scholarship | Science & Technology Undergraduate Scholarship |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | 100% of subsidised fees after MOE Tuition Grant | 100% of subsidised fees after MOE Tuition Grant |
| Annual living allowance | Rs.4,32,738 (S$5,800) | Rs.4,47,660 (S$6,000) |
| One-time computer allowance | Rs.1,30,568 (S$1,750) | Rs.1,30,568 (S$1,750) |
| Accommodation | Rs.3,73,050 (S$5,000) per year | Allowance equal to the lowest on-campus double room rate |
| Settling-in allowance | Not offered | Rs.14,922 (S$200) one-time |
| Travel | Not offered | Inbound flight at the start, return flight after graduation subject to proof of employment |
| Eligible program | Any full-time undergraduate program | Computing, Engineering (excluding Infrastructure and Project Management) and Science (excluding Environmental Studies and Pharmacy) |
| Bond | Three years via the Tuition Grant | Six years with a Singapore-registered company, on top of the Tuition Grant |
| Renewal | GPA 3.5 each semester | GPA 3.5 each semester |
Two details that catch people out. Transfer applicants from Indian or overseas universities are not eligible for either award, so this is a route for school leavers only. And neither scholarship can be held alongside another scholarship, bursary, grant or allowance without prior approval from NUS.
The third option, the ABS- Goh Keng Swee Scholarship, moved under NUS administration in 2026 under its current name. It covers freshmen from 15 Asia Pacific economies including India, and carries the same three-year Singapore work bond through the Tuition Grant. The specific allowance figures for the 2026 NUS-administered version, since older published figures relate to the previous ABS-run scheme.
Exchange rate used: Rs.74.61 per Singapore dollar. Verify the current rate before finalising your budget.
Counselor insight: Read the S&T program list against your actual application, not your general field. Infrastructure and Project Management sits inside Engineering at NUS but is excluded. Pharmacy and Environmental Studies sit inside Science and are excluded. Students discover this after the interview, which is the worst possible time.
The MOE Tuition Grant Bond Behind Every NUS Scholarship
This is the part the "fully funded" headlines leave out, and it deserves a clear-eyed read.
The MOE Tuition Grant is a Singapore government tuition subsidy, not a scholarship. NUS requires scholarship recipients to take it. And the Ministry of Education states that Tuition Grant recipients who are Singapore Permanent Residents or international students must serve a three-year bond after graduation. NUS spells out what that means in practice: working for a Singapore-registered company for three years immediately after you graduate.
Medicine and Dentistry are stricter. NUS requires scholarship recipients admitted to Medicine to undertake a six-year service bond with the Singapore Ministry of Health, and Dentistry recipients a five-year bond.
Now the arithmetic, because the bond is an exchange rather than a penalty. Take Arts and Social Sciences for the AY2026/2027 intake. NUS publishes a fee of S$21,900 per year for international students with service obligation, against a non-subsidised fee of S$41,800.
| Per year | Over four years | |
|---|---|---|
| Subsidised fee (with Tuition Grant and bond) | Rs.16,33,959 (S$21,900) | Rs.65,35,836 |
| Non-subsidised fee (no bond) | Rs.31,18,698 (S$41,800) | Rs.1,24,74,792 |
| What the Tuition Grant is worth | Rs.14,84,739 | Rs.59,38,956 |
So the trade is roughly Rs.59 lakh against three years of your early career in Singapore. For a graduate who wanted to work in Singapore anyway, that is close to free money. For someone certain they want to return to India or move to the US immediately after graduating, it is a real constraint that deserves a conversation at home before you accept.
One rule makes the decision less flexible than it looks. NUS states that international students who are not offered the MOE Tuition Grant, or who reject it, are not eligible for any NUS-administered scholarship scheme. There is no version of these NUS scholarships without the bond. Declining the bond means paying non-subsidised fees and losing the scholarship at the same time.
Our breakdown of NUS fees for Indian students has the program-by-program number if you want to model your own case.
Counselor insight: Parents often ask whether the bond can be bought out. Liquidated damages exist, but treat that as a last resort rather than a plan. The more useful question is whether your target industry has a real Singapore presence. For computing, finance and biomedical sciences the answer is usually yes, which makes the bond a formality. For some engineering and public sector paths it is genuinely limiting.
How to Apply for NUS Scholarships From India
Here is the correction that matters most, because getting it wrong costs you the entire cycle.
You do not submit a scholarship application. Singapore Citizens do: they file one common scholarship application, and for AY2026 that window ran from 1 February to 19 March 2026. That deadline is quoted all over the internet as though it applies to everyone. It does not.
NUS considers international students for scholarships through the undergraduate admission application itself. There is no separate form, no separate essay, and no separate deadline.
What happens next:
- Shortlisted candidates are contacted by email. If you are not shortlisted, NUS does not notify you.
- Selection interviews run from January to July.
- Interviewed candidates are informed of the outcome by mid-July.
- For scholarships administered by individual faculties and schools, shortlisted applicants are contacted by 31 August.
The practical consequence is significant. Your admission application is your scholarship application, so there is no second document where you get to make the case for yourself. Leadership evidence, co-curricular record and academic strength all have to be visible in the admission file the first time you submit it.
Current NUS undergraduates of all nationalities have a second route. Applications open via the Applicant Portal from 17 January to 31 July for the following academic year, with a Grade Point Average of at least 4.0 or a grade average of B+, for awards starting from about Rs.2,23,830 (S$3,000). That is the realistic path if you get in without funding in year one.
The full application process for UG and PG courses in Singapore covers the admission side in sequence.
Counselor insight: Because there is no scholarship essay, the admission application has to carry double weight. Spend your effort on specificity in the CCA and leadership sections. "School captain" tells a committee nothing. "Led a 14-member robotics team to the national finals, raised Rs.40,000 in sponsorship" is the sentence that gets you an interview invitation.
Documents and Marks You Need for NUS Scholarships
Let me be direct about the marks question first, because you will find confident numbers online. NUS publishes no minimum percentage for any of these scholarships. Every "you need 95% in Class 12" claim circulating on aggregator sites is inference, not policy.
What NUS does state for both university-level awards is the same set of criteria: outstanding high school results, strong leadership qualities and potential, and a strong co-curricular activities record. All three are assessed together. A student with 97% and no leadership record is not automatically ahead of one with 93% and a national-level achievement.
| Document | India-specific detail |
|---|---|
| Class 12 marksheet | CBSE, ISC or State Board accepted. Predicted grades used where results are pending |
| SAT | Recommended for CBSE and ISC applicants, and typically expected from State Board applicants |
| IELTS, TOEFL or PTE | Required where English was not the medium of instruction |
| Leadership and CCA evidence | Named in the criteria for both awards. Certificates, positions held, competition results |
| Letters of recommendation | Two academic referees for undergraduate applications |
| Passport | Must match every document in the application |
| Application fee | Rs.1,492 (S$20) for international undergraduate applicants |
Renewal is a separate bar from selection. Both scholarships are renewed semester by semester provided you maintain a GPA of at least 3.5 and good conduct. For Dentistry, Law and Medicine recipients under the International Undergraduate Scholarship, the requirement is grades within the top 80% of the cohort.
For a sense of the admission bar underneath all this, see our guide to the NUS acceptance rate and admission requirements.
Counselor insight: The S&T scholarship rewards demonstrated technical interest, not just marks. JEE Advanced ranks, Olympiad participation, KVPY, a GitHub portfolio, a research paper with a college professor: these read as evidence in a way that board percentages cannot. Build one such item in Class 11 rather than scrambling in Class 12.
NUS Scholarships for Master’s and PhD Applicants
The picture inverts at graduate level. Undergraduate funding is scarce and bonded. Research funding is generous and largely bond-free.
For research degrees, the NUS Research Scholarship is the main award and it is genuinely full funding.
| International PhD | International research master's | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly stipend | Rs.2,23,830 (S$3,000) | Rs.2,16,369 (S$2,900) |
| Top-up after PhD Qualifying Examination | Up to Rs.37,305 (S$500) more per month | Not applicable |
| Tuition | Full subsidy | Full subsidy |
| Duration | Four years | Two years |
Eligibility requires an undergraduate degree with at least Second Class Honours (Upper Division) or equivalent, admission to a full-time graduate research program, and eligibility for the MOE subsidy. International scholars must complete 416 hours under the Graduate Assistantship Program across the award, which means teaching or lab support duties. Note that the MOE subsidy at graduate level carries its own service obligation to work for a Singapore-based company for three years.
The President's Graduate Fellowship sits above it: Rs.2,90,979 (S$3,900) a month for international students, full tuition waiver, a one-off settling-in allowance of Rs.74,610 (S$1,000) and airfare up to Rs.55,958 (S$750). It runs for four years and is PhD only.
The catch is the award mechanism. The Fellowship is by nomination only. Your faculty or department selects candidates each semester. You cannot apply for it directly, which means the only lever available to you is the strength of your PhD application and your relationship with a prospective supervisor.
For taught master's degrees, be prepared for a thinner answer. There is no central NUS scholarship for coursework master's programs. Funding is program-specific and largely donor-funded, sitting on individual program pages rather than a central list. Several of those awards are ASEAN-restricted, including the ASEAN Scholarship for the MSc in Financial Engineering. Check the scholarships page for your exact program rather than assuming a university-wide scheme exists.
Counselor insight: If you want a funded NUS research degree, email two or three potential supervisors with a one-page research idea six to nine months before the application deadline. Supervisors drive both admission and nomination decisions. A cold application with no supervisor contact rarely converts, however strong the transcript.
Your Month-by-Month NUS Scholarships Timeline
Mapped to the Indian school year, assuming an August 2027 intake.
| Months | What you do | Why now |
|---|---|---|
| August to September | Book SAT and IELTS if required. Start collecting CCA and leadership evidence | Test slots fill, and evidence takes longer to gather than students expect |
| October to November | Draft the admission application in full | This document is your scholarship application. There is no second chance |
| November to December | Submit early, using predicted grades. Request referee letters | Interviews begin in January, so late files miss the early rounds |
| January to March | Class 12 boards while NUS scholarship interviews run | Prepare interview answers before boards consume your attention |
| April to June | Board results released. Update NUS with final marks | Final results confirm or undo a conditional position |
| By mid-July | Scholarship outcomes communicated to interviewed candidates | This is the decision point for your funding plan |
| Late July to August | Sign the MOE Tuition Grant agreement. Apply for the Student's Pass | Faculty-level shortlisting also closes around 31 August |
Two dates to put in your calendar: the mid-July scholarship outcome, and 31 August for faculty-administered awards. Once you have an offer, our Singapore study visa guide covers the Student's Pass process.
Counselor insight: Interview preparation happens in December, not January. Once boards start you will not touch it. Rehearse two answers in advance: why this specific program at NUS, and what you will do with three years in Singapore. The second question is asked more often than students expect, and vague answers hurt.
What to Do If Your NUS Scholarship Does Not Come Through
Most applicants who are admitted to NUS do not receive a scholarship. That is the normal outcome, not a failure, and there are real next steps.
Admitted, but no scholarship. Take the MOE Tuition Grant, which cuts your fees substantially on its own, and plan to apply as a current student from 17 January with a GPA of 4.0 or a B+ average. Many international students fund year one and win an award later.
No interview invitation by July. NUS only contacts shortlisted candidates, so silence is the answer. The award has passed for that cycle. Move to financing rather than waiting.
Class 12 results came in below your predicted grades. Inform NUS promptly. A revised result can affect both the admission offer and the scholarship, and volunteering it is better than having it discovered.
The bond feels unacceptable. Model the non-subsidised fee before you decide, because it is roughly double. And remember that rejecting the Tuition Grant disqualifies you from every NUS-administered scholarship, so this is a single decision affecting both.
Scholarship not renewed after a weak semester. Both awards need a GPA of 3.5 renewed each semester. If you slip, speak to your faculty before the next review rather than after.
No award at all, for anyone. NUS states it reserves the right not to award a scholarship if there are no candidates of sufficient merit, and that the selection committee's decision is final with no appeals entertained. Treat that as a genuine possibility rather than boilerplate.
Counselor insight: Build your financing plan in parallel with your scholarship hope, not after it. Families who wait for the mid-July outcome before approaching a lender end up scrambling in the four weeks before term starts, when education loan processing is at its slowest.
3 Takeaways on NUS Scholarships
Working out which NUS scholarships are open to you is mostly a filtering exercise, and the filter is nationality. Three things to do:
- Confirm which of the three India-eligible awards fit your program. If funding decides whether you can attend, let the Science & Technology programme list influence your programme choice rather than the other way round.
- Make the bond decision before you apply, not after the offer. Rs.59 lakh of subsidy against three years in Singapore is a real trade, and there is no version of these NUS scholarships without it.
- Treat your admission application as the scholarship application. There is no separate form and no second deadline, so the leadership and co-curricular evidence has to be in the file the first time you submit it.
Verified by: LeapScholar's Singapore counseling team, with hands-on experience guiding Indian students through NUS applications and Tuition Grant decisions.
Have questions about funding your NUS application? Book a free session with a LeapScholar counselor.
Frequently Asked Questions About NUS Scholarships for Indian Students
-
How much does an NUS PhD pay an Indian student per month?
The NUS Research Scholarship pays international PhD students Rs.2,23,830 (S$3,000) a month with full tuition subsidy, rising by up to Rs.37,305 (S$500) after you pass the PhD Qualifying Examination. The President's Graduate Fellowship pays Rs.2,90,979 (S$3,900) a month, but it is awarded by faculty nomination only, so you cannot apply for it directly.
-
Are there NUS scholarships for a taught master's degree?
There is no central NUS scholarship for coursework master's programs. Funding at this level is program-specific and mostly donor-funded, listed on individual program pages rather than a university-wide list. Some of those awards are restricted to ASEAN nationals. Check the scholarships page for your exact program before assuming funding exists.
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What happens if I break the three-year Tuition Grant bond?
Breaking the bond triggers liquidated damages, meaning repayment of the subsidy plus interest under the terms you signed. Separately, if you withdraw from NUS or end the scholarship early, the University states it reserves the right to require repayment of all scholarship money already disbursed. Read the agreement before signing rather than after.
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Do all NUS scholarships come with a bond?
Every NUS-administered scholarship available to Indian students requires taking the MOE Tuition Grant, which bonds international students to three years with a Singapore-registered company. The Science & Technology Scholarship adds a separate six-year bond. Medicine recipients face six years with the Ministry of Health and Dentistry recipients five years.
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What percentage do I need in Class 12 for an NUS scholarship?
NUS publishes no minimum percentage. The stated criteria are outstanding high school results plus strong leadership potential plus a strong co-curricular record, assessed together. Any specific cut-off you find online is someone's estimate. Competitive Indian applicants typically present strong board results alongside national or state-level achievements.
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Is there a separate application deadline for NUS scholarships?
International students have no separate scholarship deadline or form. NUS considers you through your undergraduate admission application. The frequently quoted window of 1 February to 19 March applies only to Singapore Citizens. Interviews for international candidates run January to July, with outcomes by mid-July.
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Can Indian students apply for the NUS Global Merit Scholarship?
Indian citizens are not eligible. The Global Merit Scholarship, along with the NUS Merit Scholarship, NUS Undergraduate Scholarship, AI Talent Scholarship, Sports Scholarship and Performing & Visual Arts Scholarship, is restricted to Singapore Citizens. Several aggregator sites list these as India-eligible, which is incorrect. Your options are the S&T, International Undergraduate and ABS–GKS awards.
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Are NUS scholarships fully funded for Indian students?
The two university-level awards cover subsidised tuition in full and add living, computer and accommodation allowances, so they function as full funding in practice. The important qualifier is that "subsidised" tuition means you must accept the MOE Tuition Grant, which carries a three-year Singapore work bond. Without the Tuition Grant there is no scholarship.
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