JPA Scholarships 2017: All You Need to Know
This is a list of all JPA scholarships that are offered in 2017. Find out about scholarship requirements, how to apply and more!
Updated 18 Aug 2021
The Public Service Department, or commonly known as JPA, has announced several prestigious and highly competitive scholarships to top scorers of SPM 2016 on D-Day (16 March 2017) itself.
It is rather unfortunate to note that the types of scholarships available this year are lesser compared to last year with only the Program Penajaan Nasional, Program Penajaan 9A+ (known as KPM Bursary last year) and Program Khas Kejuruteraan JKPJ making a comeback.
With that said, these distinguished scholarships are still the answer to the prayers of many top SPM 2016 students who have toiled hard for the past two years.
Here’s a comprehensive overview of all the JPA scholarships that are being offered in 2017.
Update (14 June 2017): Great news! The Program Ijazah Dalam Negara (PIDN) 2017 scholarship is also back and is now open for application. More details here.
#1. Program Penajaan Nasional (PPN) 2017
What It Is
This prestigious sponsorship programme is open for application only for the cream of the crop – best 102 SPM 2016 students nationwide. Out of these 102 students, only 20 students will be selected for this programme.
Successful applicants will be sponsored to pursue a preparatory course in a selected local institution and proceed to a selected field of study in one of the top 10 universities based on the QS World Universities Rankings by Subject upon meeting the set requirements.
What You Need To Know
- Only 20 out of the 102 top national SPM 2016 scorers will get this scholarship. The eligible students who can apply for this sponsorship programme can be found in this list here.
- Applicable for selected fields of study at selected institutions only.
- Selected fields of study are Computer Science, Material Science, Mathematics, Finance, Economics, Business, Political Science and Psychology.
- Students who apply will be called for a special test, assessment and interview.
- This programme is in the form of a convertible loan.
What Is The Selection Criteria
Successful applicants will be selected based on these following criteria:
- Academic achievement
- Co-curricular activities involvements and achievements
- Family socio-economic status
- Student’s performance in Student Assessment Centre (SAC) and interview
Application
Application is now open online via the JPA official website. Application deadline is 22 March 2017 (Wednesday) at 5:00pm.
Successful candidates will be announced on 2 June 2017 (Friday).
Important Note: In the event that a PPN recipient has completed his / her Pre-University studies and scored above the minimum grades set by the Public Service Department (JPA) BUT did not manage to obtain a place in any of the top 10 universities listed here, this sponsorship programme will cover the recipient’s studies in a recognised local institution instead.
#2. Program Penajaan 9A+ 2017
What It Is
This JPA scholarship is targeted towards SPM 2016 students who have scored ALL A+ with a minimum of 9 subjects.
This convertible loan will cover the preparatory studies locally AND can be extended to Degree education locally upon meeting the required grades set by JPA.
Update (20 March 2017): Following several queries on the eligibility of this sponsorship programme over the weekend, JPA Director-General Datuk Seri Zainal Rahim Seman clarified that students who scored at least 9A+ (not full A+) in SPM 2016 can also apply to be considered. Do check for any updates in student eligibility on JPA’s website from time to time.
What You Need To Know
- Pre-University courses that are applicable are STPM, Matrikulasi, Asasi and Foundation at local private institutions.
- Successful applicants can choose to pursue their Degree in a local public university, private institution or a foreign universities’ campus in Malaysia.
- Recipients who did not manage to complete their preparatory course OR did not score grades higher than the minimum set by JPA will be terminated from this sponsorship programme.
- This programme is in the form of a convertible loan.
Application
Application is online via the JPA’s website, which will be open on 3 April 2017 (Monday) at 3:00pm. Deadline is 22 May 2017 (Monday) at 5:00pm.
Results will be announced tentatively on 2 June 2017 (Friday).
#3. Program Khas Kejuruteraan JKPJ 2017
What It Is
This JPA scholarship is offered to SPM 2016 students to pursue courses related to engineering, social science or science and technology in countries such as Japan, Korea, France and Germany.
Successful candidates will attend a preparatory course locally before continuing to their respective Degree studies at a selected institution in the selected countries.
What You Need To Know
- For Engineering and Science and Technology courses, students must have scored at least an A in these following 7 subjects:
- Malay Language
- English
- Mathematics
- Additional Mathematics
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Did not obtain any grade C+ or below for any other subjects taken
- For Social Science courses, students must have scored at least an A in these following 4 subjects:
- Malay Language
- English
- Mathematics
- History
- Did not obtain any grade C+ or below for any other subjects taken
- You will have to take different pre-university programmes depending on your desired destination country (e.g. Germany = A-Level/AUSMAT, Korea = Foundation, etc.)
- This programme is in the form of a convertible loan.
What Is the Selection Criteria
Successful applicants will be selected based on these following criteria:
- Academic achievement
- Co-curricular activities involvements and achievements
- Family socio-economic status
- Student’s performance in Student Assessment Centre (SAC) and interview
Application
Application is already open. Eligible students can apply online through JPA’s website.
The application deadline is 22 March 2016 (Wednesday) at 5pm so make haste! Successful applicants will be announced on JPA’s website tentatively on 5 May 2017 (Friday) at 5:00pm.
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Start now#4. Update: Program Ijazah Dalam Negara (PIDN) 2017
What It Is
This JPA scholarship is open to first-time degree, first-year students studying in public universities, premier polytechnics or Government-Linked Universities (GLU).
What You Need To Know
- You'll need to obtain at least a CGPA of 3.30 in the first year of your Degree.
- This scholarship is NOT eligible for the following courses:
- Education-related courses (except for Education-related courses specifically for Special Education)
- Aviation-related courses that require students to apply for flying license
- Franchise-based courses
- Twinning, Dual Award or Double Degree courses
- Nursing, semi-medical and pre-service training courses
- Professional qualifications like ACCA, etc.
- Part-time, long distance or online learning courses
- If you cannot find the programme offered by your university listed in the online application form, you can inform JPA through email at pidn2017@jpa.gov.my for further action.
- This sponsorship is in the form of a convertible loan.
Application
Application is already open. Eligible students can apply online through JPA’s website.
The application deadline is 19 June 2017 (Monday) at 5:00pm so make sure you submit your application fast! Successful applicants will be announced on JPA’s website tentatively on 11 September 2017 (Friday) at 5:00pm.
Any changes to the results announcement date will be indicated on JPA’s website.
What is Student Assessment Centre (SAC)?
Students who applied for both the Program Penajaan Nasional and the Program Khas Kejuruteraan JKPJ are required to attend the SAC.
The main purpose of the SAC is to establish your own individual student profile based on your competency in areas such as leadership, teamwork, maturity, communication and creativity skills.
When will SAC be held?
SAC has been tentatively scheduled on 2 – 7 April 2017. It will be held in various designated centres throughout the country where you’ll be assigned to a centre most convenient for you.
Further details (date, time and venue) about SAC will be available on JPA’s website on 27 March 2017.
What are the documents to bring along for SAC?
Remember to bring along the following documents:
- ORIGINAL document
- Identification card
- Birth certificate
- SPM results slip
- Admission letter for SAC
- Parents’ EA Statements and Income Verification Form
- CERTIFIED true copy
- Student’s and parents’ identification card
- Student’s and parents’ birth certificates
- Parents’ salary slips
All JPA scholarships in 2017 are in the form of "Convertible Loan"
All JPA scholarships offered this year will be in the form of convertible loans (Pinjaman Boleh Ubah), a similar practice from last year. What this means is that the scholarship is essentially a loan from JPA which can be converted to a full or partial scholarship, depending on various situations.
Here's how the convertible loan model works:
- Full scholarship – If you serve as a public servant in the civil service upon graduation
- 25% loan repayment – If you work in a Government-Linked Company (GLC) upon graduation
- 50% loan repayment – If you work in a local company in the private sector upon graduation
- Full loan repayment – If you choose to work abroad upon graduation
The convertible loan initiative is designed to inject talented graduates into the civil service, as well as to instil accountability for the country.
We hope we have helped shed some light into the JPA scholarships available this year. Even so, it is important to constantly be on a look out for more updates by JPA over the coming weeks, particularly on academic requirements and application submission methods for these sponsorship programmes.
For all of you who will be gunning for a JPA scholarship this year, we’ve got our fingers crossed for you!
Still cannot get your head around the types of scholarships available in Malaysia? Here’s a comprehensive guide to scholarships in Malaysia.
Chia Wei Choong
Retiring night owl. Occasionally addicted to caffeine and absolutely addicted to fried chicken.
