About the Loan

Funded by the government and administered by DBS Bank, the Tuition Fee Loan (TFL) and Study Loan (SL) schemes will be extended to eligible subsidised Singapore Citizens (SC) and Singapore Permanent Residents (PR). They must be pursuing MOE-subsidised Diploma and Bachelor’s Degree courses in NAFA. The loan is interest-free during the student's course duration.

The loan principals for TFL and SL schemes are fully funded by MOE.

Note:
The loan does not include the payment of annual/miscellaneous fees.

Eligibility Criteria:

1. Full-time Singapore Citizens (SC) and Singapore Permanent Residents (PR) undergraduate and diploma students studying in the MOE-subsidised undergraduate and diploma programs in NAFA are eligible to apply for the TFL and SL, subject to the maximum loan quantum.
2. International Students (IS) are not eligible to apply.
3. Students who are awarded fee subsidy or loan by an organisation registered with a government agency or have applied for the government TFL in full or a mixture of both, provided the total subsidy or loan is not below 75% of subsidised fees payable (for diploma students) or 90% of subsidised SC fees payable (for undergraduates), shall be considered for the SL. The maximum limit of the SL is 10% of subsidised SC fees payable (for undergraduates) or 25% of subsidised fees payable (for diploma students) plus a living allowance loan of $2,000 per annum (for diploma students) or $3,600 per annum (for undergraduates). GST on fees is not covered by the TFL and SL.
4. Students who have obtained loans amounting to 100% of the subsidised tuition fees payable from either the CPF Education Scheme or a combination of the TFL and the CPF Education Scheme can borrow up to the maximum living allowance loan quantum only under the SL Scheme.
5. Students who are awarded the Mendaki fee subsidy or loan can borrow up to the maximum living allowance loan quantum under the SL Scheme only.
6. Students holding scholarships that fully cover the tuition fees payable for the year will not be eligible.
7. NAFA will exercise discretion on the quantum of the loan to be granted based on its assessment of the candidate’s needs for financial assistance.

Maximum Loan Quantum:
Students can borrow the maximum loan quanta as follows:

	TFL	SL
Undergraduates	Up to 80%* or 90% of Subsidised SC fees	Up to 10% or 20%* of Subsidised SC fees plus annual living allowance loan of $3,600.
Diploma students	Up to 75% of Subsidised fees payable by SC/PR	Up to 25% of Subsidised fees payable by SC/PR plus annual living allowance loan of $2,000.

*Students with PCI ≤ $950 are eligible for the interest-free SL. They are eligible to take up the maximum loan under TFL to cover up to 80% of subsidized SC fees and a corresponding SL to cover remaining 20% of subsidized SC fees.

Administration of Loan:
DBS Bank will be handling the administration and disbursement of all Tuition Fee Loan and Study Loan Schemes at NAFA.

Guarantor Requirements:

1. Must be between the ages of 21 and 60 years old.
2. No income qualification will be stipulated.
3. Must not be an undischarged bankrupt nor be a student pursuing full-time education.
4. May not serve in this capacity for more than two (2) outstanding student loans, including this loan.
5. Must be a Singapore citizen for an applicant who is a Singapore citizen.
6. Can be either a Singapore citizen or a permanent resident for an applicant who is a Singapore permanent resident.

Criteria/Terms of Award:

• There are no qualifying income criteria for the TFL.
• SL will be awarded on a means-tested (i.e. needs analysis) basis. A two-tier loan system for SC/PR for the SL scheme is as follows:
  
  

  Courses	Tier 1 (waiver of interest)	Tier 2 (with interest)
  	SC/PR	SC/PR
  	Gross monthly per capita household income (PCI)	Gross monthly per capita household income (PCI)
  All MOE-subsidised courses	≤ $950	> $950 - $2,700

Loan Interest:
Loans are interest-bearing, except for SL for students with PCI ≤$950, where SL will be interest-free.

Interest Rates (from 1 April 2024)
The following interest rates will be applicable to all new Government education loan agreements signed on and after 1 April 2024.

Standard interest*	3-month compounded Singapore Overnight Rate Average (3M SORA) plus 1.5 percentage points or such other rates as may be determined from time to time by the bank
Late payment interest for overdue and unpaid loans/loan instalment	3M SORA plus 4.5 percentage points or such other rates as may be determined from time to time by the bank

* not applicable to interest-free Study Loan

The interest rates will be revised on a half-yearly basis based on the 3M SORA^[1] published on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) website^[2] on 1 March (for the period 1 April to 30 September) or 1 September (for the period 1 October to 31 March of the following calendar year)^[3]. You can visit DBS website at https://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/loans/education-loans/tuition-fee-loan for the applicable interest rates on every 1 April and 1 October.

Notes:
^[1] SORA is the volume-weighted average rate of borrowing transactions in the unsecured overnight interbank SGD cash market in Singapore between 8am and 6.15pm. The 3-month compounded SORA is the rolling compounded average of daily SORA over the past respective period.
^[2] https://eservices.mas.gov.sg/statistics/dir/DomesticInterestRates.aspx
^[3] If 1 March or 1 September falls on a weekend and/or a public holiday when the 3M SORA rates are not published by MAS, we will take the 3M SORA published on the MAS website on the last preceding business day in Singapore.
For example, if 1 September is a Saturday, we will take the 3M SORA published on MAS website on 31 August.

Repayment Period
	TFL	Interest-bearing SL (Tier 2)	Interest-free SL (Tier 1)
Undergraduates	20 years	20 years	5 years
Diploma students	10 years	5 years	2 years

• The repayment of the TFL and SL can be made either by a full-lump sum payment or by monthly instalments, with a minimum instalment repayment of $100 per month per loan.


• Repayments can commence 1 year (for TFL for diploma students) or 2 years (for TFL for undergraduate students) and 6 months (for SL) after graduation. During this grace period, standard interest will apply, but no late payment interest will be charged.


• For withdrawn students, their loans become due for repayment in full immediately. However, they can request to arrange for monthly repayment instalment plan.

Application Details:

1. Application Period
   
   There are 2 application period during the year:
   
   
   • 1 May - 15 Jun
   • 1 Nov - 31 Dec (if you’ve missed the first application period)
   
   Late submissions will not be accepted.


2. Application Submission
   
   
   1. All students who wish to apply for the Tuition Fee Loan (TFL) are required to complete the TFL application form. Please click here to access the online application form. Please also view the Terms and Conditions here.
   
   
   2. All students who wish to apply for the Study Loan (SL) are required to complete the SL application form. Please click here to access the online application form and email completed form to Office of Student Care at [email protected]. Please also view the Terms and Conditions here.
   
   
   3. For TFL application, students and their guarantors are required to visit DBS Raffles Place Branch at 22 Malacca St #01-00 RB Capital Building, Singapore 048980 with:
      
      
      1. The completed TFL Application Form.
      2. A copy of the Letter of Offer for Admission to NAFA (for freshmen) or a photocopy of the student card (for students currently enrolled in NAFA).
      3. Applicant’s identity card / valid passport (for Permanent Residents, passport must be valid for no less than 6 months at the time of application).
      4. Guarantor’s identity card / valid passport (for Permanent Residents, passport must be valid for no less than 6 months at the time of application).

Terms and conditions apply, please refer to the DBS website for more information.

Further Enquiries:
Finance Office ( [email protected]) Tel: 6512 4036
Bank: DBS Bank Ltd Tel: 6333 0033