Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy revised to allow more Malay families to benefit

The scheme, which has not been revised for over 20 years, now has higher than average income ceilings to cover more families.

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, announced:

We will revise the TTFS so that it remains relevant to the needs of the community and allow more Malay families – including larger families – to benefit from the scheme. There will be 3 key changes:-

First, the scheme will move from using a monthly household income criterion to a per capita income criterion (or PCI for short). This revision takes into account household size, which gives a more accurate picture of a family’s financial situation. Large families with more dependent children can now have a better chance of qualifying for subsidies.

Second, the scheme will move from the current two-tier subsidy system, of 100% and 70%, to a three-tier system of 100%, 75% and 50%. This will retain the principle of differentiating subsidies for households with different abilities to provide for their children. It would also allow for a better matching of subsidies with household income.

Third, we will raise the income eligibility criteria for the scheme. The new income criteria for TTFS will be a per capita household income (PCI) of $1,500 and below. For a 4-member household, this corresponds to a household income of $6000. There will be three levels of subsidy. Students from households with PCI $1,000 and below will receive 100% fee subsidy; those between $1,000and $1,200 will receive 75% subsidy; and those with PCI above $1,200 but below $1,500 will receive 50% subsidy. MENDAKI will continue to exercise flexibility in approving subsidies for families with unique circumstances, such as those supporting more than one child for tertiary education or families who may have members with chronic medical problems.

The revisions will take effect from the next academic year and MENDAKI will put up the details on its website. The new criteria has been set at higher than average income ceilings to cover more families under the scheme given that it has not been revised for over 20 years. Nonetheless, as Malay households continue to progress financially, we will review the income criteria regularly to ensure that no less than two-thirds of Malay households in Singapore continue to benefit from the TTFS.

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