Your MoHE scholarship: what you commit to

A Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) scholarship funds your degree, but it also comes with obligations. These are set by the scholarship regulation adopted by Ministerial Decision 197 of 17 July 2025, which the Kuwait Cultural Office in Australia and New Zealand (KCO) publishes. Article numbers below are from the regulation itself; the English wording is our translation.

Your duties (Article 4)

Article 4 lists 19 duties. The ones that shape daily life in Australia:

• Respect the laws of Kuwait and the study country, including immigration and residence rules (duty 4).
• Follow MoHE's regulations and your university's rules (duties 5 and 6).
• Stay in regular contact with MoHE and the cultural office, before enrolling and throughout your studies (duty 10).
• Tell the cultural office before leaving the study country during your study period, with your institution's approval (duty 11).
• Do not suspend or interrupt your studies, except for reasons beyond your control and with MoHE approval (duty 12).
• Finish within the period set for your major (duty 13).
• Allow the cultural office to see your academic records and performance reports each semester or year (duty 14).
• Send the cultural office your study plan at the start, proof of enrolment each semester, and official results at the end of each semester or year. Delays are your responsibility (duty 15).
• After an academic warning, explain the reasons to the cultural office within one month (duty 16).
• Study full time and do not take a job; MoHE may allow training linked to your major (duty 17).
• Keep your contact details updated with KCO and MoHE (duty 18).
• Settle your financial and legal obligations, including with your landlord and university, when you graduate, change country, withdraw or are dismissed (duty 19).

KCO also requires students to be in the study country during regular semesters and to give KCO proof of presence each semester.

Progress rules (Articles 5, 6 and 12)

• Study load: pass 27 units a year in a two-semester system, 42 in a three-term system, or the equivalent at your institution. Units not completed must be made up in summer (Article 5).
• Academic warnings: a semester GPA below 2.00, or below 50% in the British system or its equivalent, brings a warning. Three consecutive or four non-consecutive warnings lead to dismissal. With MoHE approval, up to two warnings can be lifted for circumstances beyond your control (Article 5).
• Foundation year: it can be repeated only once, in the same major, and only if your attendance that year was at least 65%. An academic year can be repeated at most twice. Reaching the limit freezes the scholarship (Article 6).
• Dismissal grounds (Article 12) include breaching Article 4 duties, leaving your studies without a reason MoHE accepts, failing two years in a programme of up to four years, and receiving two disciplinary warnings.

Attendance and your allowance (Article 25)

• Unexcused absence above 20% of required attendance, or more than 14 days in a row, means deductions from your monthly allowance (Eleventh).
• Warnings carry one-off deductions: 15% of one month's allowance for the first, 20% for the second, 25% for the third and fourth (Twelfth).
• MoHE cannot stop your allowance unless KCO notifies you formally at least one month beforehand (Seventh).

Changing country, university or major (Articles 7 to 9)

All changes need MoHE approval. You can change study country once (Article 7) and institution twice (Article 8). A major can normally be changed once, not before you enrol and not after passing half your study plan (Article 9).

Changing without approval is a violation under Article 24. Penalties are a disciplinary warning, stopping the allowance, freezing the scholarship, or dismissal. You can appeal to the MoHE Undersecretary within one month of notification.

Withdrawal and repayment (Articles 14 and 30)

You may withdraw before registering or travelling, but the decision cannot be reversed; you can apply in a later plan if eligible. Withdrawing during your studies means paying the resulting financial claim (Article 14).

Article 30 says MoHE recovers 50% of all amounts spent on you if you are dismissed under Article 12, withdraw under Article 14, or are dismissed from or withdraw from a master's. Exceptions:

• Suspended: you and your guardian can request suspension within one year of the decision, with proof you are still studying.
• Halved: if you earn a diploma within 3 years, or a master's in the same field within one year, of the decision.
• Waived: if MoHE re-admits you, or you earn a bachelor's within 4 years.
• Not recovered: on the student's death, or health or mental incapacity certified by the competent authorities in Kuwait.

Read these rules with your family before signing, and ask KCO about anything unclear.