NUS Fees for Indian Students: How to Study at the National University of Singapore — The Complete 2026 Guide

Here is the insider fact that shapes every Indian family's NUS budget: there are two prices for the same NUS degree. An international student who accepts Singapore's MOE Tuition Grant pays S$21,400 a year for Computing or Engineering in AY2026/2027. One who declines it pays S$39,700. The grant comes with a three-year Singapore work bond — and whether that bond is a cost or an opportunity depends entirely on your plans. Most guides mention the grant in a single line. This one explains it properly, because it is the most valuable decision you will make about NUS.

The National University of Singapore traces its roots to a medical school founded in 1905, and today it is ranked 10th in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2027. For Indian students planning to study in Singapore, it offers a rare combination: a top-ten global name, direct flights from several Indian cities including Bangalore, and a city where English is the working language. The questions Indian families ask most are about fees, the bond, scholarships and whether a CBSE, ISC or state-board student can get in. This guide answers all of them.

NUS Ranking and Key Facts

What Can You Study at NUS?

NUS is organised into colleges, faculties and schools, and you apply to specific degree programmes within them. The ones Indian students ask about most:

• School of Computing — Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Analytics and related degrees. Fee band: S$21,400 with the Tuition Grant, S$39,700 without.
• College of Design and Engineering (CDE) — formed in 2022 when the Faculty of Engineering merged with the School of Design and Environment. Engineering sits on the same fee band as Computing; Architecture and Landscape Architecture are slightly higher at S$22,750 subsidised.
• College of Humanities and Sciences — the sciences, mathematics, economics, psychology and the social sciences. S$21,400 subsidised, S$36,650 non-subsidised.
• NUS Business School — which also now houses Real Estate. S$22,200 subsidised, and notably only S$33,400 non-subsidised — the smallest gap in the fee schedule.
• Law, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy — professional degrees with their own fee bands, interviews or tests, and (for Law, Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing) a rule for Indian applicants explained in the admissions section below.
• Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music — a specialist conservatory with the highest non-subsidised undergraduate fee after Medicine and Dentistry.

NUS Fees for Indian Students (AY2026/2027)

These are the per-year tuition fees NUS's Office of the Registrar publishes for new undergraduates admitted in AY2026/2027. Indian students fall in the "All other IS" (non-ASEAN international) column. International fees include 9% GST.

Beyond tuition, plan for accommodation, food, transport, health cover, a laptop and flights home. NUS does not bill these as a single "cost of attendance" in the way US universities do, so build your own budget line by line — and include the small but real immigration costs covered below.

The MOE Tuition Grant — Understanding the Bond

The Tuition Grant is not an NUS scholarship; it is a Singapore Ministry of Education subsidy available to eligible international students at Singapore's Institutes of Higher Learning, NUS included. It is what turns a S$39,700 Computing fee into S$21,400. Here is exactly how it works, from MOE's own pages.

The obligation

MOE states that Tuition Grant recipients who are Singapore Permanent Residents or international students "must serve a 3-year bond after graduation", which means being employed full-time in a Singapore entity for three years.

What counts as a Singapore entity

A company incorporated in Singapore, or a foreign company with a substantial connection to Singapore under Singapore law. It can be a corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship, and also a government agency, non-profit or educational institution. That covers a very wide range of employers — including many multinationals with Singapore offices.

The agreement and sureties

You register and sign a Tuition Grant agreement online through MOE's TG&S Portal, with two sureties aged 21 to 65. International students must indicate interest in the grant during their application; Singapore citizens receive it automatically. If you do not complete registration and signing, you pay the non-subsidised fee.

After graduation

MOE tells international recipients to apply for a one-year Long-Term Visit Pass from ICA when their Student's Pass expires, to stay and find work. Once employed, your company applies for your work pass. If you cannot find work before the LTVP expires, MOE asks you to document your job search and may issue a letter of support to help extend your stay.

Working overseas first

Bond deferment to work overseas is possible. MOE requires a Banker's Guarantee and a deferment request through the TG&S Portal at least six weeks before the overseas job starts.

Buying out or breaking the bond

Liquidated damages are the total Tuition Grant received, plus any GST subsidy, plus 10% interest per year compounded at the end of each academic year. MOE also notes that recipients and their sureties may be liable if the recipient remains unemployed for a prolonged period.

Admissions for Indian Students

CBSE and ISC (Indian Standard 12)

• Minimum to apply: a good pass in five subjects including English in the Indian Standard 12 (CBSE or ISC) exam — or your Year 12 school results if you are sitting the board exam after the application closes.
• Not required: SAT, ACT with Writing or AP; an English test; and, NUS states explicitly, JEE Main or Advanced. That makes NUS one of the simplest top-ten applications for a CBSE or ISC student.
• Holistic review: NUS says it assesses applications "holistically based on all academic and non-academic achievements" — so your activities, competitions and projects count alongside your marks.
• Final results: if you sit Class 12 in the year you apply, you submit your final results through the Applicant Portal by NUS's deadline — for the 2026 intake, within 3 calendar days of release for ISC and by 17 May for CBSE. An internet print-out showing your full name is accepted provisionally.
• Professional programmes: applicants who apply before their board results are out are not eligible for Dentistry, Law, Medicine or Nursing. If one of these is your goal, a gap year and an application with final results in hand is the route that keeps it open.
• Design programmes: Architecture, Industrial Design and Landscape Architecture may set an additional aptitude test in June.
• State boards: NUS publishes a separate page for Indian Standard 12 from state and other boards. The main difference is that a standardised test (SAT, ACT with Writing or AP) is listed as required; an English test and JEE are not.

NUS Master's Programmes for Indian Students

At master's level the picture is different. The subsidised Government-Subsidised Graduate Programmes schedule for AY2026/2027 applies mainly to research degrees: a research programme in Computing, Engineering, Science, Business or Arts and Social Sciences costs an international student S$21,900 a year with a service obligation, or S$43,750 without. For most coursework master's, international students pay fees set programme by programme on each faculty's page. NUS does not publish a single rule on three-year Indian bachelor's degrees for all master's programmes, so confirm eligibility with your target programme before you apply.

NUS Scholarships for Indian Students

NUS lists a set of freshmen scholarships open to international students on its Office of Admissions site. Two that Indian applicants can be considered for, as NUS currently describes them:

NUS International Undergraduate Scholarship

Open to citizens of all countries except Singapore. It covers 100% of the subsidised tuition fee (after the Tuition Grant), with an annual living allowance of S$5,800, an annual accommodation allowance of S$5,000 and a one-time computer allowance of S$1,750. There is no bond attached to the scholarship itself, but you must take up the Tuition Grant, so its three-year bond applies. NUS says all eligible applicants for undergraduate admission are considered.

Science & Technology Undergraduate Scholarship

For outstanding students who are citizens of an Asian country or region other than Singapore. It covers 100% of subsidised tuition after the Tuition Grant, a S$6,000 annual living allowance, accommodation and computer allowances and travel support — and carries a six-year bond with a Singapore-registered company after graduation.

Scholarship names, values and deadlines can change by cycle, so check NUS's own scholarships pages for your intake rather than aggregator summaries — a scholarship that appears only on a third-party site is worth confirming with NUS before you plan around it.

Your Student's Pass (ICA)

• Who issues it: Singapore's Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA). NUS registers you, and you apply online through ICA's SOLAR e-Service.
• When: ICA asks students to apply at least two months and not more than three months before the course begins.
• Fees: a S$45 processing fee on application, then S$60 on issuance and S$30 for a Multiple Journey Visa where applicable. India is on Singapore's visa-required list, so plan for the visa fee.
• Processing: ICA states within one week, or within two weeks where a visa is required. A medical examination report may be required before issuance.
• Working while you study: MOM's work pass exemption lets full-time matriculated NUS students work up to 16 hours a week during term and during vacations without a separate work pass, as well as on approved internships. Exchange students are not covered.

After Graduation — Staying On in Singapore

• Long-Term Visit Pass to seek work: NUS graduates are on ICA's list of eligible institutions. MOE describes it as a one-year LTVP. ICA's fees are S$45 on submission plus S$60 on issuance (and S$30 for a Multiple Journey Visa if applicable), with processing within six weeks.
• Employment Pass: once you have an offer, your employer applies to the Ministry of Manpower. For new applications until 31 December 2026, the minimum qualifying salary is S$5,600 a month (S$6,200 in financial services), rising with age.
• The 2027 change: from 1 January 2027 the minimum rises to S$6,000 (S$6,600 in financial services) for new applications — the relevant figure for anyone graduating from 2027 onwards.
• COMPASS: EP candidates must also score at least 40 points on MOM's COMPASS framework, which weighs salary, qualifications, workforce diversity and the employer's support for local hiring.
• The bond fits here: if you took the Tuition Grant, your three years of full-time work in a Singapore entity start after graduation — which is exactly what the LTVP-then-EP route is designed for.

Applying to NUS from Bangalore and Karnataka

Bangalore's schools send students to NUS through two different routes, and knowing which one you are on is the first step to a clean application.

• CBSE and ICSE/ISC schools in Bangalore: you follow NUS's Indian Standard 12 (Central and ISC Boards) route described above — a good pass in five subjects including English, with no SAT, no English test and no JEE required.
• Karnataka II PUC (Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board): NUS places state boards on a separate page, "Indian Standard 12 (State and Other Boards)", which lists a standardised test — SAT, ACT with Writing or AP — as required alongside good passes in five subjects including English. An English test and JEE are not required. Confirm the details for your intake, then book your SAT or ACT early enough to have scores ready before the February closing date.
• Degrees from Karnataka universities (for master's applicants): NUS does not publish a named list of Indian institutions, so whether your degree is from VTU, Bangalore University, a Bangalore engineering college or elsewhere, confirm eligibility directly with your target programme.
• No visa appointment in Bangalore for the Student's Pass: the Student's Pass is applied for online through ICA's SOLAR e-Service. ICA says the formalities — including biometrics — are completed after you arrive, by appointment at the ICA Services Centre in Singapore (or at an offsite session your university arranges), and the pass itself is now issued in digital form only.
• Getting there: Singapore Airlines lists Bangalore (BLR) among the Indian cities it serves from its Singapore hub, so you can fly direct from Kempegowda International Airport to Changi. Check current schedules and fares when you book — it is one of the easiest overseas moves a Bangalore family can make.
• Local support: Falcon Nova's office is in Hebbal, North Bangalore, on the 7th floor of Kirloskar Business Park, and you can book a free counselling session there in person or online.

Is NUS Right for You?

NUS is an outstanding choice if you want a top-ten global university at a fraction of US or UK cost, close to home, with a clear route into one of Asia's strongest job markets. With the Tuition Grant, a world-ranked Computing or Engineering degree costs S$21,400 a year — and if you see your first three years of work in Singapore, the bond simply formalises the career you were planning. For CBSE and ISC students, the application itself is refreshingly straightforward: no JEE, no SAT and no IELTS.

The students who get the most from NUS are the ones who make two decisions clearly and early — which programme, and whether to take the Tuition Grant. If you are also weighing Singapore's other top-ranked university, our NTU guide sets out its fees and application window side by side, and NTU's application period for Indian Standard 12 runs longer, so the two fit together neatly in one plan.