Want a US scholarship? Pay $1,475 first

Sourcing company here under investigation in Jamaica but insists it is completely above board


A MAN who wanted to place a notice inviting scholarship applications for American universities raised alarm bells at The Straits Times last week when he was found asking for US$975 (S$1,475) as a non-refundable application fee in his advertisement.

Mr Nigel Darmanie, 44, the owner of 4E: Eager for Education, Employment and Earnings, is being investigated in Jamaica, in the Caribbean, for fraud, after students there alleged that he refused to refund their money after failing to get scholarships for them.

When contacted, he told The Straits Times on Tuesday that his service is completely above board and that the probe on him arose from bad business judgment.

He said on securing partial scholarships for students, he had made the mistake of guaranteeing the universities that the students' parents would pay the rest of the money, according to a fixed schedule.

But the parents did not pay up. 'I make no guarantees now,' he said.

He expects to have the charges dropped when he has his day in court on April 27 to explain the circumstances.

Mr Darmanie's company provides a service which sources scholarships from American universities.

The company takes a student's test and exam scores and transcripts and sends them to the universities to see if they are interested in offering the student a scholarship.

Said Mr Darmanie: 'The universities can say, 'no, we're not interested' or 'this student sounds like what we are looking for, ask him to send his application in'.'

The company then informs and assists the student in his application.

Mr Darmanie estimates that, on average, he sends a student's credentials to 20 to 50 institutions.

And this service is what the US$975 buys.

But there are other expenses like the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) required for US university admission, medical tests required by universities, and air tickets to the US, to be borne separately.

After all these expenses, there is no guarantee a student will secure a scholarship.

When contacted, Amercan universities like the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore and University of South Carolina Upstate said they have enrolled students through 4E.

Such scholarship sourcing services, while almost unheard of here, are not uncommon in the US, where universities offer a range of full and partial scholarships.

According to the website of the Federal Student Aid, an office of the US Department of Education, these services can cost US$50 to US$500.

Although he acknowledges his charges are high, Mr Darmanie feels it is a small investment for a student who nets a full scholarship of about US$40,000 a year for four years.

But the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) has this advice for prospective students: 'It is expensive if the non-refundable payment results in no scholarships. There is risk and there is a high possibility of failure as such scholarships in each university are given to only the very best students.'

Another risk is that 4E is not registered as a business in Singapore.

So far, the 23-year-old company, which started in the US, has operated in Europe and the Caribbean, but is now trying to break into the Asian market.

Such scholarship-sourcing services are popular among students who just want a US degree, and are not particular about the brand name of the institution, but who want to pay as little as possible for their education, said Mr Darmanie, a US resident born in Trinidad, in the Caribbean.

They maximise their chances of securing a scholarship by working through a middleman.

But students here are sceptical of such a service.

Said Mr Loh Jun Wei, 22, who will be starting an accountancy undergraduate course at the Nanyang Technological University in a few months: 'It's too much to pay for something that's not guaranteed. I would feel more secure applying for the scholarships myself, and with the Internet, these days, with so much information easily available, it's not difficult to do it yourself.'

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NO GUARANTEES

'I make no guarantees now...The universities can say, 'no, we're not interested' or 'this student sounds like what we are looking for, ask him to send his application in'.'
MR NIGEL DARMANIE, 44, the owner of 4E: Eager for Education, Employment and Earnings, who is asking for $1,475 as a non-refundable application fee

TOO EXPENSIVE, DO IT YOURSELF

'It's too much to pay for something that's not guaranteed. I would feel more secure applying for the scholarships myself, and with the Internet, these days, with so much information easily available, it's not difficult to do it yourself.'
MR LOH JUN WEI, 22, who will be starting an accountancy undergraduate course at the Nanyang Technological University

COSTLY IF RISK DOES NOT PAY OFF

'It is expensive if the non-refundable payment results in no scholarships. There is risk and there is a high possibility of failure as such scholarships in each university are given to only the very best students.'
CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE