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Universitas Bina Nusantara Offers International Programs for Bright Students lease see queries in yellow below

Jakarta is not Perth or Melbourne. But the capital of Indonesia has a link with the two Australian cities -- at least in the field of education, as developed by Universitas Bina Nusantara (UBiNus).

The university offers international education in cooperation with Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria. The cooperation is manifest in its International Undergraduate Program (IUP), opened in 2001.

UBiNus was established more than 20 years ago, and has more than 25,000 alumni. It currently enrolls more than 24,000 students.

While lecturers from the two reputable foreign universities come to Jakarta to teach classes, students also get a chance to study there. A dual degree program is offered, allowing students to receive two degrees, one from Universitas Bina Nusantara and one from its partners.

Another benefit of the program is the fact that students can save more than 50 percent in "investment" cost compared with studying abroad to obtain the same Bachelor degree.

Most parents make every effort to provide their children with the best education they can afford. Some send them overseas, even though it might cost them the equivalent of a car, or a house.

"Every year, about Rp 5 trillion goes out of the country to cover the expenses of Indonesian students who study abroad," IUP director Firdaus Alamsjah said.

The IUP is open to students who want access to quality international education and four study programs offered at UBiNus IUP: Accounting, Computer Science, Information Systems and Marketing.

As all classes are conducted in English, language mastery is a must. Students should have a TOEFL score of 550 or better. If the score is between 500 and 549, they need to take Pre-University English for 100 hours. Besides, the entrance test score should be of above average, meaning that only bright students are accepted at IUP.

When it opened three years ago, IUP offered only a Computer Science program, with 56 students. Three more programs were offered in the following year and the number of students rocketed by almost 100 percent per year for two consecutive years.

"This year, we don't expect the number of student to double. We believe that growth has much to do with quality and we want to stick with quality," Firdaus said. Eighty percent of the students are expected to finish their studies in time and IUP sets a target of ninety percent landing a job in less than a year after graduation.

Some of the Indonesian students are those who used to study abroad, but decided to return to the country and continue their studies here.

UBiNus has 15 lecturers with a PhD degree and 49 with Master degrees from prominent overseas universities. Each should have a minimum of five years of work experience in reputable companies in Indonesia or abroad.

UBiNus is not the only university in town that offers a dual degree program. Some other higher learning institutions claim to have quality international education, with English used in classes.

So, why should one choose UBiNus?

Besides its professional faculty members and quality education, the university has strong links to industry and networks with many big companies, an excellent learning environment, small classroom size to maximize student interaction and is located near Jakarta Central Business District.

"We cooperate with industry for internship programs and company visits. We also have many guest lecturers and invite CEOs to speak before the students," he said.

The International Undergraduate Program campus is located at the Joseph Wibowo Center on Jl. Hang Lekir I, South Jakarta. The building, with its 24-hour security system, has plenty of parking space, a bookstore, a library with more than 27,000 books, journals and magazines, a Jakarta Stock Exchange Corner and Dealing Room, a business center and a canteen. Besides the modern facilities, free Internet access is also available. What is more, the campus is just walking distance from the upmarket shopping mall Plaza Senayan.

We are here to develop a better human resource, which is not only knowledgeable, but also with a positive attitude. Therefore, the lecturers teach students to be disciplined by ruling that if they are more than 15 minutes late, they are considered absent and those who are more than 30 minutes late are not allowed to attend class.

Students learn to change their mind-set, show more respect for punctuality and exercise self-discipline. Besides, they also learn about teamwork through intensive discussions or project assignments, as academic skills alone are not enough to enter the working place.

Last registration, August 18, 2004 Entrance test, August 19,2004 For further information, contact 7202222, ext. 8100