Your university or college education is one of the important
investments you will make in your life time and in most cases this
cannot be made without the help of a scholarship or financial aid of
some form. In Malaysia, the types of educational financing available in
general are: scholarship awards, education funds by private institutions
and the Malaysian Government, and loans.
Here’s a look at Malaysian Government scholarships on offer. The
Malaysia Public Service Department offers these to international
students:
- Malaysian Technical Cooperation Program Scholarships (MTCP)
- Malaysian International Scholarships
- Commonwealth Scholarship
Malaysian Technical Cooperation Program Scholarships (MTCP)
The MTCP Scholarship for postgraduate studies is for those students looking to pursue advanced academic study in Malaysia.
This is a scholarship that is on a Government- Government basis wherein
students are expected to significantly contribute to their own
countries on their return to their country from Malaysia. Its duration
is of 36 months for a PhD and of about 12-24 months for a master’s
programme.
Each scholarship covers international air tickets, approved tuition
fees, annual grant for books and travel expenses, monthly maintenance,
medical insurance, visa and thesis allowance.
This scholarship covers subject areas of science and engineering,
economics and Islamic finance, agriculture and fisheries,
biotechnology, information and communication technology, infrastructure
and utility, biosecurity and food Safety, health, and environmental
Studies.
Malaysian International Scholarship
The Malaysia International Scholarship (MIS) for international students
is a Malaysian Government initiative to draw in the brightest academic
students from the globe-over. This scholarship has two categories:
undergraduate and postgraduate studies. It targets talented
international students possessing excellent academic background, looking
to get into Malaysian public and private universities. The scholarship
covers the subject areas of science and engineering, agriculture and
fisheries, information and communication technology, economics and
Islamic finance, biotechnology, infrastructure and utility, biosecurity
and food safety, and health.
This scholarship takes care of international air tickets, tuition fees,
monthly maintenance, annual grant for books and travel expenses,
medical insurance, thesis allowance, installation and termination grant,
and Visa.
Malaysian Commonwealth Scholarship
The Malaysian Government awards the Malaysian Commonwealth Scholarship
and Fellowship Plan to international students from the Commonwealth
countries looking to pursue higher studies at the postgraduate level in
Malaysia. This is a Government to Government scheme and generally the
awards for master’s programmes from 12- 24 months and 36 months for PhD
degrees.
The scholarship covers the subject areas of science and engineering,
agriculture and fisheries, economics and Islamic finance, information
and communication technology, biotechnology, biosecurity and food
Safety, infrastructure and utility, environmental studies, and health.
The Malaysian Commonwealth Scholarship takes care of international air
tickets, tuition fees, monthly maintenance, annual grant for books and
travel expenses, medical insurance, thesis allowance, installation and
termination grant, and Visa.
Eligibility:
The general eligibility for these three scholarships is:
- Students must not be more than 45 years of age (for MTCP and Commonwealth applicants) and not be more than 40-45 (for MIS applicants).
- Students must have obtained a minimum of Honours or Second Class Upper or have a CGPA of 3.5/4.0 at the undergraduate level for master’s applicants and a CGPA of 3.5/4.0 or excellent master’s degree results for PhD applicants (in a similar field of study).
- Students must have acquired an IELTS score of 6.5 or TOEFL score of 580 (paper-based test) or 230 on a computer-based test or a score of 92 on an internet-based test.
- Students must have written a proposal relevant to their field of studies
- Students must be in very good health condition.
- Students must have applied and gotten admissions for postgraduate or doctoral study in Malaysia.
Application:
All scholarship application must be made by students online through the Ministry of Higher Education’s website(MIS). This is the general procedure followed:
Step 1:
Students must register their passport number and log in to the application form and fill in all sections.
Step 2:
Students must attach the following documents along with the printed
version of the application form: passport size photo, medical report,
certified copy of current passport certified copy of academic
transcripts, certified copy of English language proficiency certificate,
admission letter, two letters of recommendation, and an endorsement
form.
Step 3:
All documents must be scanned and converted to PDF format and submitted
online. Hard copies will not be required to be sent and will be
required only during the interview sessions.
Financial Aid
Here are a few universities that offer international students financial aid as well:
- The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
- Monash University Sunway Campus
- Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus
- SEGi University
- INTI International University
- HELP University
- Sunway University
This is a general overview of financial aid and scholarships in
Malaysia. Keep yourself well informed about the different kinds of aid
available that you can opt for before you start with the applications.
Have a look at some of our course listings on Malaysia.
