What is the best way to fund my child's education?

Students planning to study at a polytechnic or Institute of Technical Education can consider options such as loans, bursaries and scholarships

- Ang Yiying and Dillon Loh

With the release of the O-level results, your child would be considering the next step of his academic journey.

If he is thinking about studying in a polytechnic or Institute of Technical Education (ITE), fees would be higher than in a secondary school. There are several options you can consider to fund his education.

For Singapore citizens, an ITE Nitec course costs under $500 each academic year, while polytechnic school fees cost about $3,000 each academic year. In comparison, junior college (JC) fees would be just under $400 a year.

Secondary school fees would have cost about $300 a year.

In the 2024 Joint Admissions Exercise, 52 per cent of students were posted to a polytechnic, 39 per cent were posted to JCs or Millennia Institute, and 9 per cent were posted to ITE.

WHAT TYPES OF LOANS ARE AVAILABLE?

There are several types of loans your child can consider. He does not need to start repaying these loans until after he graduates or leaves school.

MOE Tuition Fee Loan

A Singaporean student taking a full-time polytechnic diploma from academic year 2025 pays a subsidised annual tuition fee of $3,100. The tuition fee loan will cover 75 per cent of the amount or about $2,325 each academic year.

The loan is interest-free during your child's course of study and starts incurring interest only when your child graduates or leaves the institution.

The interest rate for the Ministry of Education (MOE) tuition fee loan is updated every six months. For the latest period from Oct 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, it is 5 per cent per annum. Your child has 10 years to repay the loan.

For the other 25 per cent, students will have to pay those fees on their own or, if eligible, take a MOE Study Loan.

CPF Education Loan