All SUTD Students Will Have Opportunity for Global Exposure and Eligible Needy Students Will Receive Free Undergraduate Education

21 Feb 2019

• Overseas immersion trips will form an integral part of learning during the first year 
• Students from families with per capita income of $690 and below will receive a free undergraduate education 

Starting this year, the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will introduce overseas immersion trips in ASEAN countries and Asia to enhance the learning experience for Freshmore (first-year) students as part of the Freshmore curriculum. Leveraging the real world as part of its strategy to expose students to experiential learning, these overseas immersion trips to ASEAN countries and Asia will serve as a pre-cursor for students to better understand the region and build networks, preparing them for the future after they enter the workforce. By linking the trips to their courses, students will be able to connect what they have learned in the classrooms to the real world, hence developing their critical thinking and problem solving skills as early as the Freshmore year.


These overseas immersion trips to ASEAN countries and Asia will serve as a pre-cursor for students to better understand the region and build networks.
 
SUTD will provide a substantial subsidy to all Freshmore students who will be participating in the overseas immersion trips to ASEAN countries and Asia. The subsidy would be able to cover airfare and possibly the cost of accommodation for most trips. This new initiative serves to complement and augment the slew of existing overseas programmes¹ and will allow all SUTD students to have the opportunity for an overseas experience. Current students can look forward to overseas opportunities with SUTD’s 42 academic partner institutions, including the latest addition, University of California.
 
SUTD President, Professor Chong Tow Chong said: “Overseas exposure plays a vital role in students’ experiential learnings, widening their mindsets and enhancing their education beyond book knowledge. With this new initiative linking overseas immersion trips to their courses, students will be able to apply what they have learned to solving real-world problems. For a start, we anticipate that up to half of each batch of students will go on overseas experiences in their first year, with the others choosing to travel in their junior or senior years. The plan is to be able to send all Freshmore students overseas by 2021. We are also mindful of the costs, which is why we will be providing all participating Freshmore students with a substantial subsidy to defray the costs of these trips.”
 
Enhanced SUTD Scholarships and Bursaries
SUTD will also be enhancing its bursary and scholarship offerings to ensure that SUTD’s education is more financially accessible for students.
 
The SUTD Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG), which was established to help deserving needy Singaporean students pursue their studies at SUTD, will now be tiered² based on qualifying students’ financial circumstances. This will allow more students, including those who come from families with monthly per capita income of up to $2,250 to receive more support. Specifically, with the Enhanced SEOG, and after taking into consideration the tuition grant subsidy by the Government, all eligible students from families with monthly per capita income of less than $690 will be guaranteed a free undergraduate education and fully subsidised Freshmore (first three terms) hostel fees. More information about the SEOG can be found in Annex A.


More scholarships to be offered, funding overseas experience of at least eight weeks’ duration during summer.

In addition to the SEOG, SUTD will be offering more scholarships which not only cover the subsidised tuition fees for the undergraduate studies, but also guarantees and funds an overseas experience of at least eight weeks’ duration during summer under the Global Leadership Programme (GLP), which include the SUTD Global Distinguished Scholarship (GDS) and SUTD Global Merit Scholarship (GMS). There will be about 50 more SUTD or donor-sponsored GDS and GMS to be awarded this year to outstanding students compared to 2018. More information on the GDS and GMS can be found in Annex B and Annex C.
 
Prof Chong added: “We want to ensure that students with financial needs are able to pursue a high quality education at SUTD without worrying too much about their finances. Hence, our newly enhanced SEOG aims to help students based on their financial circumstances, and those with greater financial need can receive more assistance or even a free education. We also continue to emphasise the importance of global exposure for students by offering more scholarships which guaranteed overseas experiences. Together with the enhanced scholarship and financial assistance offerings, more than half of SUTD students admitted will receive some form of financial support.”

Annex A - information can be found here.
Annex B - information can be found here.
Annex C - information can be found here.