At present, undergraduate education at NUS is highly subsidized by the Singapore Government, which pays for the bulk of the operating costs besides the infrastructural costs. The University’s fees are reviewed and adjusted periodically to reflect the cost of providing education to students. This section covers the following:
Tuition Grant
The current annual tuition fees payable are set out here.
The cohort-based fee system is introduced for the new undergraduate intake of all Faculties/Schools from AY2008/09. Under the cohort-based fee system, tuition fee for an intake cohort of students will be fixed throughout the student’s candidature. While fees continue to be reviewed annually and adjustments made as and when necessary with each new cohort of students, each new cohort will know the exact amount of tuition fees they have to pay throughout their candidature. This enables students to better plan for the financing of their undergraduate studies.
National Servicemen who had accepted admission to NUS earlier but plan to register and enroll as a student with the current cohort and beyond will be charged the tuition fees prevailing at the time they accepted their offer of admission. If the National Serviceman does not accept the place first offered and accepts offers to NUS in the subsequent years, he will not be able to enjoy the tuition fee effective in the year of his first offer but will have to pay the tuition fee effective in the latest year of offer which he has accepted. If the National Serviceman accepts the place first offered and successfully changes his course of study in a subsequent year, prior to his enrolment to the University, he will pay the tuition fee of the new course at the rate applicable to the year of the first offer accepted.
The Undergraduate Tuition Fee Policy is instituted to encourage undergraduates to graduate on time within the normal candidature period and have a head start in achieving career success. While the University seeks to give its graduates an edge in the workforce through impactful curriculum and programmes, students are encouraged to exercise personal responsibility on their part in planning their studies/modules well to reap the competitive advantage by graduating on time.
The Undergraduate Tuition Fee Policy, comprising (1) Tuition Fee Rebate and (2) Tuition Fee beyond Normal Candidature, is applicable to students who are admitted into an undergraduate degree under the modular system@ in NUS.
@ Notes:
– UG students admitted to non-modular faculties namely, Medicine / Dentistry / Law where the programme structure and duration are fixed (except Law DDP students whose 2nd degree is registered with a modular faculty), are excluded.
– UG students admitted to Bachelor of Technology Programme and Yale-NUS College are also excluded. The fee policies for these students are managed separately.
(1) Tuition Fee Rebate
With effect from the admission cohort of AY2014/15 to AY2018/19, a rebate in tuition fees paid in excess of the total fees for the stipulated candidature period for fee rebate may be granted to eligible students who graduate on time within the stipulated candidature period.
A student is eligible for tuition fee rebate if s/he meets all of the following conditions:
- Admitted into an undergraduate degree under the modular system@ in NUS from AY2014/15 to AY2018/19;
- Completed NUS modules during the following period(s):
- prior to the undergraduate candidature (e.g. NUS iBLOC, NUS H3 subjects, NUS modules taken as NUS High School students, and NUS modules taken under the Polytechnic Advanced Placement Programmes); and/or
- during Special Terms within the undergraduate candidature;
- Paid tuition fees in excess of the fees for completing the undergraduate degree programme on time in the candidature period applicable for fee rebate.
For more information, please refer to the FAQ.
(2) Tuition Fee beyond Normal Candidature
With effect from the admission cohort of AY2016/2017, students admitted into an undergraduate degree under the modular system@ in NUS and who take longer than the normal candidature period to complete their degree requirements will have to pay partial non-subsidized fees, culminating in full non-subsidized fees, during the extended semesters.
In view that the Ministry of Education provides a Tuition Grant to subsidize a student’s tuition fees up to the normal candidature period, the tuition fee payable beyond that would be the full non-subsidized semestral fees. To mitigate the impact of higher fees, the University undertakes to charge affected students only a proportion of the full non-subsidized semestral fees pro-rated based on the MCs read in the extended semesters. In addition, the pro-rated full fees payable in the first and second semester beyond normal candidature will be capped at 120% and 150% of the subsidized semestral fees respectively.
The fees payable beyond normal candidature period are summarised in the following table:
| STUDENT TYPE | SEMESTER AFTER NORMAL CANDIDATURE PERIOD | REVISED FEE PRO-RATED BASED ON STUDENT’S SEMESTER WORKLOAD OF X-MC |
| Single degree students | 1st | ‘Full^ semestral# fees X Workload%*’ capped at ‘Subsidised semestral# fees X 120%’ |
| 2nd | ‘Full^ semestral# fees X Workload%*’ capped at ‘Subsidised semestral# fees X 150%’ | |
| 3rd onwards | Full^ semestral# fees X Workload%* | |
| Double degree students | 1st | ‘Full^ semestral# fees X Workload%*’ capped at ‘Subsidised 9th/10th+semestral# fees X 120%’ |
| 2nd | ‘Full^ semestral# fees X Workload%*’ capped at ‘Subsidised 9th/10th+semestral# fees X 150%’ | |
| 3rd onwards | Full^ semestral# fees X Workload%* |
^Full (non-subsidised) fees are set out under the column “Fees payable by students not in receipt of MOE Tuition Grant” in the undergraduate fees table (refer here).
#Semestral fees refer to half of annual tuition fees set out in the undergraduate fees table (refer here).
*Given that the student reads x-MC of modules in the semester concerned, the ‘Workload%’ is capped at 100% if x exceeds 20MCs and xMC/20MC if otherwise, for fee computation purposes, i.e., tuition fee is pro-rated for workload < 20MCs.
+ For Normal Candidature Period for DDP (single or double Honours) – refer here and related fee structure for DDP programmes refer here.
Students who register for module(s) in the Special Term immediately following the expiry of their normal candidature period will continue to pay subsidised fees on a per module basis. However, for the Special Terms beyond that, the Special Term fees payable will be the full non-subsidised semestral fees pro-rated based on the number of MCs read.
For more information, please refer to the FAQ.
The Office of Finance publishes information on deadlines for fee payments and modes of fee payment. The Office will send an email notification to students, at students’ NUS email accounts, to view their Student Bill online at least 2 weeks before the scheduled deadline for fee payment.
Students who do not meet fee payment deadlines stipulated by the Office of Finance, may incur penalty fees. If fees are not paid, or only partially paid, by the due date indicated in the bill, a late fee will be stipulated. Should fees remain outstanding after the relevant fee payment deadline, the University reserves the right to suspend academic rights and privileges, including to withhold degree conferment certifications. In addition, students with overdue fees may have their candidature of study terminated.
The University is committed to providing a quality education for all our students and to ensuring that no deserving student is denied admissions because of financial difficulty.
Needy students can apply for financial aid which will be offered if they meet the eligibility criteria. Financial aid will be in the form of a financial aid package which may comprise a combination of loans, bursary, and work-study assistance. Students who are in need of financial assistance should approach the Office of Admissions, which oversees matters pertaining to student financial aid.