13 March 2009

NUS Helps Students Tide Over Economic Downturn

Undergraduate tuition and hostel fee adjustments deferred

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has deferred this year's planned adjustments to the tuition fees for the incoming AY2009/2010 cohort, as well as student hostel fees. Recognising the impact of the current economic downturn, incoming NUS students will pay the existing tuition fees. The new students, together with current NUS undergraduates, will also pay the existing hostel fees for the new academic year. Details on the existing tuition and hostel fees are available in Annexes 1 and 2.

Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost, said, "NUS is mindful of the difficulties faced by many families during these trying times. NUS remains committed to ensuring that no student admitted to, or studying in, NUS will be unable to pursue university education because of financial difficulties."

The University has stepped up its efforts to assist students in need of financial assistance. NUS' former Financial Aid Unit was recently expanded into the Office of Financial Aid to oversee all student financial aid matters and scholarships. Students can apply for a comprehensive range of financial assistance from the University and the Ministry of Education (MOE). These options include tuition fee loans, study loans, bursaries, work-study assistance, NUS Cash Assist Loans as well as MOE's Short-Term Study Assistance Scheme. In addition, the eligibility criteria for most of the financial aid schemes have also been adjusted to widen the pool of Singaporean students who qualify for aid. Details on financial aid are available in Annex 3.

Prof Tan added, "Not increasing fees this year will impact the University's budget. However, NUS has implemented a range of cost-cutting measures, so that we can continue to press ahead with significant enhancements to our educational programmes."

Both Engineering and Computer Science will be rolling out in phases, substantially revamped undergraduate curricula which place greater emphasis on design; Medical students will begin the second phase of a new cutting-edge curriculum; Pharmacy students will gain from new modules on latest developments in pharmaceutical practice; the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences will have more components with a greater focus on Asia; and undergraduates in Architecture will be able to choose from new specialisations including Design Technology and Management, Urban Design, and Landscape Architecture.

The NUS Career Centre has also enhanced its student services with a multi-pronged approach to help incoming and existing students find internships, full-time and part-time jobs on and outside campus. Its recent partnership with the Singapore Business Federation as part of the NUS Global Talent Development Programme is aimed at providing students with greater career opportunities both here and overseas. These new programmes and student service enhancements will better prepare NUS undergraduates for the future.

While the University has decided to defer planned adjustments to the tuition and hostel fees for one academic year, it is aware that in a cohort-based tuition fee system, incoming students would need to be informed of their cohort tuition fee commitments.

The University is mindful that the current economic situation may not be over by next year. It will review the need to continue the deferment of its planned tuition fee adjustments towards the end of 2009.

If the economic situation improves then, students in the AY2009/2010 cohort can expect tuition fees for most of the undergraduate courses to be raised by 4% with effect from AY2010/2011. Thereafter, the AY2009/2010 student cohort will pay this same level of fees for the remaining duration of their course of study in NUS. Taking into account the one year deferment, this works out to an annualised increase of about 1.2% each year over a four-year course duration and for Medicine, it will be 1.0% each year over a 5-year course duration.

Tuition fees for Architecture and Business programmes will be increased by 7%, while the fees for Law and Pharmacy programmes will be increased by 10%. These adjustments will allow for further enhancements to the quality of these programmes, with the higher fee increases reflecting the need to further reduce student-faculty-ratios in these courses. These fee adjustments would translate into annualised increases of 2.0% and 3.1% respectively. However, incoming students in these courses will similarly benefit from NUS' decision to defer the increase for at least one academic year. More details are in Annex 4.

Current undergraduates will not be affected by these fee adjustments.

Annex 1: Nus Undergraduate Tuition Fees For Ay2009/2010 Cohort During First Year Of Study

Faculties / Schools	Annual Tuition Fees payable by undergraduate intake cohort of AY2009/10 during their first year of study:
	Singapore Citizens $	Singapore Permanent Residents See Note $	International students See Note $
Arts and Social Sciences Computing Design and Environment Engineering Science	6,360	7,000	9,540
Business	6,540	7,200	9,810
Law	7,340	8,080	11,010
Medicine (Nursing)	7,280	8,010	10,920
Medicine (except Nursing) Dentistry	18,230	20,060	27,350
Note: As announced by the Singapore Government in Dec 2006, with effect from the cohort of AY2008/09, fees for Singapore Permanent Residents and International Students will be 10% and 50% higher than those for Singapore Citizens respectively.

Annex 2: Nus Hostel Fees (Phased Adjustments Announced Last Year)

Room rates/week	AY2008/09 (S$)	AY2009/10 (S$)	AY2010/11 (S$)	AY2011/12 (S$)
Single room	75	75	90	100
Double room	50	50	60	70
Super Single (Raffles Hall)	90	90	105	120
Type A-PGP	140	140	165	180
Type B-PGP	80	80	100	110
Type C/Single Room	75	75	90	100
GSA Type 1	250	250	300	335
GSA Type 2	200	200	240	270

Annex 3: Nus Financial Aid Packages Effective Ay2009/2010

(A) For Singapore Citizen (SC)

Tuition Fee Loan: Up to 90% of tuition fees payable at SC rate CPF Education Scheme / Mendaki Subsidy: up to 100% of fees payable NUS Study Loan: 10% of tuition fees payable at SC rate and living allowance of $3600 Bursary of $1200 - 1500 1 Bursary of $1320 - 1650 Short-Term Study Assistance of up to $1100 Subsistence Loans of up to $2200 1 NUS Cash Assist Loans Work-study Assistance

(B) For Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR)

Tuition Fee Loan: up to 90% of tuition fees payable at SC rate CPF Education Scheme: up to 100% of fees payable NUS Study Loan: 10% of tuition fees payable at SC rate and living allowance of $3600 Bursary of $1200 - 1500 1 Bursary of $1260 - 1570 Subsistence Loans of up to $2200 1 NUS Cash Assist Loans Work-study Assistance

(C) For International Students (IS)

Tuition Fee Loan: up to 90% of tuition fees payable at SC rate CPF Education Scheme: up to 100% of fees payable NUS Study Loan: 10% of tuition fees payable at SC rate and living allowance of $3600 Bursary of $1200 - 1500 1 Bursary of $1100 - 1320 Subsistence Loans of up to $2400 1 NUS Cash Assist Loans Work-study Assistance

¹ These items will be given only to qualifying needy students from the AY2008/09 cohort onwards.
² Only suitably qualified IS will be eligible for these enhanced amounts.


Annex 4: *Planned Undergraduate Tuition Fees For Ay2009/2010 Cohort From Ay2010/2011 And For Remaining Duration Of Course

Faculties / Schools	*Planned Annual Tuition Fees payable by undergraduate 2009/2010 cohort from AY2010/2011:
	Singapore Citizens $	Singapore Permanent Residents See Note $	International students See Note $
Arts and Social Sciences Computing Design and Environment (except Architecture) Engineering Science (except Pharmacy)	6,620	7,290	9,930
Business Science (Pharmacy)	7,000	7,700	10,500
Design and Environment (Architecture)	6,810	7,500	10,220
Law	8,080	8,890	12,120
Medicine (Nursing)	7,580	8,340	11,370
Music	8,200	9,020	12,300
Medicine (except Nursing) Dentistry	18,960	20,860	28,440
Note: As announced by the Singapore Government in Dec 2006, with effect from the cohort of AY2008/09, fees for Singapore Permanent Residents and International Students will be 10% and 50% higher than those for Singapore Citizens respectively. *NUS will review its tuition fee towards the end of 2009 and if the economic situation improves then; these fees will take effect from AY2010/2011.