As one of the most sought-after scholarship loans in Malaysia, the Public Service Department, or commonly known as JPA, has announced several prestigious and highly competitive scholarships for top scorers who sat for SPM in 2017.

If you’re at a loss on how to go about applying for JPA scholarships, here’s a comprehensive overview of all the JPA scholarships that are being offered in 2018.

#1. Program Penajaan 9A+ 2018

What It Is

The Program Penajaan 9A+ 2018 scholarship by JPA is targeted towards SPM 2017 students who have scored a minimum of 9A+ regardless of the number of subjects taken. The scholarship will cover local preparatory studies AND can be extended to a local degree upon meeting the required grades set by JPA.

What You Need to Know

• Pre-University courses that are applicable are A-Level, AUSMAT, STPM, Matrikulasi, Asasi and Foundation at local institutions (both public and selected private institutions).
• Successful applicants can choose to pursue their degree in a local public university or selected private institutions based on the applicants' selected field of study.
• 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 sponsorship is in the form of a convertible loan.

#2. Program Khas Jepun, Korea, Perancis dan Jerman (JKPJ) 2018

What It Is

The Program Khas Jepun, Korea, Perancis dan Jerman 2018 scholarship by JPA is offered to SPM 2017 students to pursue courses related to engineering, social science or science and technology in Japan, Korea, France and Germany.

Successful candidates will attend a preparatory course locally before continuing to their respective degree studies at selected institutions in abroad.

What You Need to Know

For Engineering and Science & Technology courses, you must have scored at least an A in these following 7 subjects:

• Bahasa Melayu
• English
• Mathematics
• History
• Additional Mathematics
• Physics
• Chemistry

For Social Science courses, students must have scored at least an A in these following 7 subjects:

• Bahasa Melayu
• English
• Mathematics
• History
• Additional Mathematics
• 2 other subjects

You will have to take different pre-university programmes depending on your desired destination country (e.g. Germany = A-Level, Korea = Foundation, etc.).

What Is the Selection Criteria

Successful applicants will be selected based on these following criteria:

• Academic achievement
• Co-curricular activities involvements and achievements
• Family's socio-economic status
• Student’s performance during the Student Assessment Centre (SAC) and interview

#3. Program Penajaan Nasional (PPN) 2018

What It Is

The most illustrious scholarship programme offered, the Program Penajaan Nasional is open only for the crème de la crème of the SPM 2017 candidates — 204 of the nation's best students are handpicked but only 20 students will be selected for the scholarship.

Applicants will be sponsored to pursue a preparatory course in a selected local institution and then proceed to study in one of the top 20 universities in the UK or USA based on the QS World University Rankings (see the list of universities here).

What You Need to Know

• Only 20 out of the 204 top SPM 2017 scorers will be selected for the scholarship. Eligible students who qualify for this programme can be found here.
• Applicable for selected fields of study at selected institutions only. Selected fields are Computer Science, Information Technology, Material Science, Mathematics, Finance, Economics, Business, Politics and Psychology.
• Applicants will be called in for a special test, assessment and interview.
• This sponsorship is in the form of a convertible loan.

What Is the Selection Criteria

Successful applicants will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Academic achievement
• Co-curricular activity involvement and achievements
• Family's socio-economic status
• Applicant's performance in the Student Assessment Centre (SAC) and interview

What is Student Assessment Centre (SAC)?

Shortlisted candidates for the Program Khas JKPJ will be required to attend the Student Assessment Centre (SAC). The main purpose of the SAC is to ensure that JPA selects the best scholars for this programme.

SAC has been tentatively scheduled for 16 to 19 April 2018. 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) are available on JPA’s website.

All JPA scholarships in 2018 are "Convertible Loans"

All JPA scholarships offered this year will be in the form of convertible loans (Pinjaman Boleh Ubah). What this means is that the scholarship is essentially a loan from JPA that 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: All other situations

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 on the JPA scholarships available this year. Do keep an eye out for more scholarship updates by JPA in the coming weeks.

Not eligible for JPA scholarships? Check out our comprehensive list of scholarships available across Malaysia.

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I went outside once. That was before Netflix.