Full-fee paying international students in our Autonomous Universities

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Hazel Poa, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the current number of non-Singapore citizen students in each Government-funded autonomous university; (b) what are the absolute number and percentage of non-Singapore citizen students who are paying full fees versus those receiving tuition grants; and (c) whether the Ministry has similar data on autonomous universities in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and, if so, how do the data compare with each other.

Response

1. The proportion of international students (ISes) enrolled in the Autonomous Universities (AUs) at undergraduate level has remained at around 10% in recent years, while the proportion of Singapore

Permanent Residents (SPRs) has been less than 5%.

2. The proportion of ISes in the AUs who are paying full fees has been around 20%. The remainder are recipients of tuition grants, which require them to work in Singapore for at least three years upon graduation, as part of their service obligation.

3. The proportion of international students and fees that they pay varies across other countries, and some may also administer financial aid. We do not track the data.