Unis, polys and ITE tuition fees to rise in 2011

Most undergraduate courses to increase by 4%, other courses to see hike of 6%.

THE three universities, five polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) announced separately yesterday that they will raise tuition fees for the academic year starting this year.

The universities announced an increase in tuition fees for undergraduate and postgraduate courses and financial aid schemes for the Academic Year (AY) 2011, which commences in August 2011.

At the polytechnics and ITE, the fee increase will hit new and existing students. At the universities, however, the fee increases will affect only incoming freshmen, but male students who applied for places before their national service will have their tuition fees pegged to the date of their applications.

Across the board, the fee hikes are steeper for non-citizens.

Tuition fees for S'pore citizens

For NUS, the annual tuition fees for most undergraduate courses for SC will increase by 4%; this represents an annualised increase of 1.6% over four years. Fees for the incoming AY2011 intake of SC for graduate courses (coursework and research) will be adjusted upwards by 6%, with the exception of Nursing.

Fees for Architecture, Business, Law, Music, Nursing and Pharmacy will increase by 6%; or an annualised increase of 2.3% over four years.

This means that for an Arts and Social Sciences degree, one would have to fork out $7,170, instead of $6,890. While for a Business degree, fees will now be $7,940 instead of $7,490.

For NTU, the hike also marks an increase of 4 per cent and represents an annualised increase of 1.6% over 4 years.

Business programmes at NTU will increase by 6%. According to a press statement from NTU, the business programmes are conducted in smaller groups in a seminar-style format, which requires a lower student-to-faculty ratio, and thus incurs higher cost.

Current students already enrolled in NTU will not be affected by this revision. Similarly, returning National Servicemen will continue to enjoy tuition fees based on the year they were offered a place at the University

Postgraduate course fees

Fees for the incoming intake of students for postgraduate courses (coursework and research) will be adjusted upwards by 6 per cent for AY2011. In subsequent years, the fees for the AY2011 intake will be increased by 3 per cent annually for the remaining duration of their course.

Tuition Fees for Permanent Residents (PR) and International Students (IS) in NTU, NUS

To achieve a sharper differentiation by citizenship, PR and IS admitted to NTU in AY2011 will pay between $700 and $1,320 more than the existing fee rates for PR, and between $1,140 and $2,180 more than the existing annual rates for IS.

Those admitted to NUS in AY2011 will pay between $480 and $2,180 more than the existing fee rates for SPR, and between $970 and $3,720 more than existing annual rates for IS.

Financial aid widely available

To help students who need assistance, NTU will set aside $5.65 million in financial aid in AY2011. This will provide for bursaries, Work Study Schemes, loans and emergency grants for NTU undergraduates. The total available financial aid, funded by the university and donations for AY2011 will amount to $14 million, same as in AY2010.

Students who need advice on financial assistance can contact NTU’s Office of Admissions & Financial Aid at finaid@ntu.edu.sg or at 6790 4115 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 6790 4115 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Details of the schemes are available on this website: http://admissions.ntu.edu.sg/UndergraduateAdmissions/FinancialAssistance

NUS also has its own comprehensive range of financial assistance schemes - such as Tuition Fee Loan, NUS Study Loan, NUS/MOE Bursary, Work-Study Assistance, as well as NUS Student Assistance Loan.

For Singapore citizens:

(1) Tuition Fee Loan: up to 90% of tuition fees payable at SC rate
CPF Education Scheme / Mendaki Subsidy: up to 100% of fees payable
(2) NUS Study Loan: 10% of tuition fees payable at SC rate and living allowance of $3,600
(3) NUS Bursary of up to $1,650
(4) NUS Student Assistance Loan
(5) Work-study Assistance

For Singapore PRs

(1) Tuition Fee Loan: up to 90% of tuition fees payable at SC rate
CPF Education Scheme: up to 100% of fees payable
(2) NUS Study Loan: 10% of tuition fees payable at SC rate and living allowance of $3,600
(3) NUS Bursary of up to $1,570
(4) NUS Student Assistance Loan
(5) Work-study Assistance

For International Students

(1) Tuition Fee Loan: up to 90% of tuition fees payable at SC rate
CPF Education Scheme: up to 100% of fees payable
(2) NUS Study Loan: 10% of tuition fees payable at SC rate and living allowance of $3,600
(3) NUS Bursary of up to $1,320
(4) NUS Student Assistance Loan
(5) Work-study Assistance

Edvantage | Fri Jan 14 2011