NUS, NTU tuition fees to go up by 4%

From The Straits Times, Feb 13 2008

TUITION fees for the new intake of National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) students will go up by 4 per cent in the new academic year to meet rising manpower and operating costs.

The increase is much higher for permanent residents and foreign students to reflect greater fee differentiation between local undergraduates and others at both universities.

The last time the universities raised their fees was in 2006 when tuition fees went up by three per cent.

Both NUS and NTU said the cohort-based, and fixed fee increase, which is locked in at the the start of the new academic year and maintained during the entire duration of the students course of study, will help them to better plan their finances.

With the fee increase, new NUS students will have will have to pay annual tuition fee of $6,360 – from $6,110 last year.

Foreign students on tuition grant bond will pay 50 per cent more, or $9,540, while Singapore PR will pay 10 per cent more, or $7,000. Foreign students and PRs not on a tuition grant bond will pay $23,320 a year.

At NUS, tuition fees for business and law students will go up by more. Business students will pay seven per cent more, or $6,540, and law students, 20 per cent more, or $7,340. Currently, only students in medicine and music pay more.

NTU said the increase was due to higher ‘manpower and operating costs’.

It said it is adopting a cohort-based approach to setting undergraduate tuition fees so that ‘the new fees will be maintained at the same level during the course of the students’ study’.

This is aimed at facilitating ‘better financial planning for students by setting out a predictable fee schedule for the duration of their education at NTU, it explained.

Fees for the current students remain unchanged. Similarly, returning National Servicemen will continue to pay tuition fees based on the year they were offered a place at the university.

NTU gave the assurance that no admitted student ‘will be deprived of a quality university education because of financial constraints’.

Needy students can apply for a wide range of financial assistance schemes, which include bursaries, loans and work-study programmes.

NUS said the new fee system is aimed at helping students plan for the financing of their undergraduate studies.

‘This is in response to feedback gathered through a series of dialogues between NUS Management and Student Leaders, where students had indicated a preference for greater predictability in fees,’ it said in a statement on Wednesday.

‘NUS has been successful in providing quality education that is internationally well recognised and yet affordable. This quality education has given our graduates the distinctive competitive edge needed to succeed in the globalised world, making them well sought after by prospective employers.’

Added Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS Provost and Deputy President: ‘To ensure that we continue to provide a quality education that is on par or even better than the other world class universities, teaching staff to student ratios must be improved.

‘NUS also needs to attract and retain top academic talent through internationally competitive salaries. Over the last few years, despite active measures to keep costs down, NUS’ costs associated with teaching and related activities have been steadily rising.’

NUS said as it gears itself to be one of the world’s leading universities, it remains strongly committed to delivering quality education and undertaking high impact research.

‘To address the rise in manpower and operating costs needed to sustain quality and excellence, NUS has reviewed tuition fees and will be making adjustments to tuition fees for undergraduate programmes,’ it explained..

‘After extensive deliberation and consultation with students, faculty members, senior management, industry and the Ministry of Education, we arrived at a revised fee schedule that will help defray part of the operating costs of providing a quality education.

‘The Ministry of Education will continue to subsidise the larger part of the University’s operating and capital costs.’

On the adjustments to tuition fees for business and law courses, Prof Tan said: ‘To maintain our position as a leader in business and legal education in Singapore and beyond, we have to compete with top universities around the world as well as the industry to attract and retain top business and legal talent.

‘It is also essential for us to further improve teaching staff-to-student ratio so that our students benefit from more small-class teaching, which offers personalised attention and increased interactivity.’

Graduates of the NUS Business School and the Faculty of Law have done well in the employment market. In 2006, 70 per cent of NUS Business School graduates had secured jobs before graduation. On the legal front, 100 per cent of NUS’ 2006 law graduates secured jobs before their graduation with more than half receiving multiple job offers.

NUS also assured all deserving students that they will not be denied the opportunity of a university education at NUS because of financial difficulties.