SINGAPORE – More Malay students will soon be able to tap subsidies for tertiary tuition fees given out by community self-help group Mendaki annually.
The Government will raise the income eligibility criteria so that more households will be covered under the Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS) scheme, Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim said on April 10.
This is the first step towards a broader goal of helping more Malay students attain tertiary qualifications in Singapore – in particular, to have more of them qualify for university, he added.
In the coming years, the focus will be to help Malay students, particularly those from lower-income families, prepare and position themselves well to get in, said Associate Professor Faishal.
From the 2026/2027 academic year, the per capita income threshold for the 100 per cent, 75 per cent and 50 per cent subsidy tiers of the TTFS scheme will be increased by about $200 or $300 to $1,700, $2,000 and $2,200, respectively.
A 25 per cent subsidy tier will be introduced for students from middle-income Malay households with per capita income of up to $2,400.
This is so they can benefit and receive some level of support to defray the cost of tertiary tuition fees, said Prof Faishal, who announced the enhancements at a Minister’s Hari Raya Get-Together event held at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, his first such gathering since taking over the Muslim Affairs portfolio in May 2025.
The TTFS provides subsidies for eligible students pursuing their first full-time diploma and degree programmes at local government tertiary institutions. It has supported about 10,000 Malay students annually over the past five years, according to Mendaki.
Tertiary education is one of the strongest enablers of progress over the long term, opening up career pathways and improving employment prospects, noted Prof Faishal, who acknowledged concerns such as education costs and anxiety over disruptions to the economy.
