Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore (part 2)
I agree that some of you may not see the benefit of studying in NTU with such a high cost. Let’s be practical and see how much do you need to pay for studying in NTU
The updated value of school fee can be seen through this website
- Tuition Cost: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/NSS/NSSFinance/FeesTuitionGrant/pages/tuitionfees.aspx
- Tuition Fee Loan: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/NSS/NSSFinance/FinancialAssistance/TuitionFeeLoan/Pages/ForFullTimeProgramme.aspx
- Study Loan: https://www.ntu.edu.sg/NSS/NSSFinance/FinancialAssistance/NTUStudyLoan/Pages/ForFullTimeProgramme.aspx
Let’s take this value as our reference (2018 intake tuition fee), and evaluate the value for most of the course chosen
- Non-subsidize : 31.970 SGD/year
- Subsidize (International student under tuition grant) : 17.550 SGD/year
- Singaporean: 8200 SGD/year
Every International student is applicable to take 2 types of loan for studies which are
- Tuition Fee Loan (cover 90% of the Singaporean tuition fee)
- Study Loan (cover 10% of the Singaporean tuition fee, and allowance 1200/2400/3600 SGD/year)
Tuition Fee Loan
The basic requirement for you to be eligible as the recipient is that you are under “Tuition Grant condition” (means if you don’t receive/rejecting your offer, most likely you won’t be able to apply for it), and the administration matters (two guarantors, 21–60 years without financial bankruptcy history).
Study Loan
Study Loan is applicable if you’re applying for Tuition Fee Loan as a prerequisite, and your family income is must be less than 1200*(number of family members) SGD/month. If you’re in this condition, you’re allowed to get cover by Study Loan
Loan System
Both loan program is guaranteed under two well-known bank (OCBC and DBS) and it’s interest-free during education period, and the interest will be incurred after you’re working.
Misconceptions
There are lots of misconceptions in terms of the loan, let’s take the case that you’re International Student taking both loans and taking a maximum loan for allowance. Let’s calculate the value :
- Final value paid : 17550–8200–3600 = 5750 SGD/year
There are some misconceptions, which is if you take both loans, you are assumed to get 100% tuition covered and get an allowance at the same time. Remember that the 100% tuition covered is Singapore tuition (isn’t International, which is more than Singaporean).
Conclusion
To study in NTU, not under full scholarship is quite expensive. You need to have 5.750 (~ around 6.000/year) and you will have 11.800 (~around 12.000/year)
Is there any source of income that I get? Yes, that’s why NTU is a good place to study. Here are some several sources of income :
- Part-time working (in range of 7–15 SGD/hour)
- Short-term scholarship (applicable each year)
- Doing Internship
- Doing some investment/business
Part-time working
Is NTU guaranteed you to work? Of course not, but you can apply through the NTU Work-Study Program, and the job is a variety (in terms of salary, jobs). We have a portal that you are able to a checklist of job and the details (job scope, duration, requirement) and it’s updated every day
In my past experience, I worked for Communication Studies (WKWSCI) in the programming team to track the source of hoax news for 10 SGD/hour, doing administration matters for 8 SGD/hour, and become Civil Engineering Research Assistant for 10 SGD/hour. The unique thing in NTU is that you are free to choose your jobs and it can be irrelevant to your degree (like me, doing a Bachelor degree in Physics), as long as you’re coping with it, then you’re good to go.
For administrative matters, you can in accumulation of 16 hours/week work during your semester studies, and working 44 hours/week and 9 hours/day during winter/summer break. You don’t need to submit any document as it’s done within the school area
You also able to choose to work outside, there are several administrative matters to handle.
Short Term Scholarship
NTU also provides a program that you can apply for short term scholarship and it’s open annually. It’s a collaboration with some companies that you probably need to check for terms and conditions, some may offer you to work with them during your internship/right after you've graduated.
Doing Internship
To be honest, it’s quite common to see Singaporean university students do an internship on their winter/summer holiday (regardless of your major require you to do an internship within 6 month/1 semesters). Because it can enhance your skills in the workplace and getting additional income at the same time.
Doing Business and Investment
You probably heard that “Don’t work hard, but work smart". It happens to financial cases too. Investment/doing business is one of the ways to make money working with you. Basically, there are two ways to do it like you can do it personally or handle it by the financial manager.
For my side, I’m doing it both. Currently, I’m putting my money in my home country on P2P Lending and Saving with Passive Income program. Meanwhile, I’m having a saving program (with insurance to cover my unpredictable cases). Although the return may not be that much, the investment is progressing and at least it helps you to cover your expenses
So, there are many ways to cover your expenses, and believe me that investment in knowledge won’t disappoint you!
Other related reading
I hope you really like this explanation, and if you need to find out more on the application process, feel free to look up this link:
