Studying in Singapore, Malaysia less costly

Studying in Singapore, Malaysia less costly

T.Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

Studying abroad has long been the choice of many students who
want to have an international experience while enjoying quality
education.

There is a long list of options but most prefer to continue
their study in an English-speaking country. America and Australia
remain favorite destinations, but there are also students who go
to neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and the
Philippines.

In fact, Singapore and Malaysia have become among the most
popular destinations for Indonesian students. The number of
students studying in the two countries continues to increase from
year to year.

Basically the parents send their children to Singapore or
Malaysia because they are close to Indonesia. It takes less than
two hours by air from Jakarta and there are many airlines serving
the route to those two countries every day. The tuition fees and
the cost of living are also lower. Besides, when it comes to
culture, they share many things in common.

The tuition fee to study in a private university in Singapore
is between S$9,000 (about Rp 54 million) and S$12,000 a year,
much lower than in Australia which reaches between A$13,000
(about Rp 97.5 million) and A$16,000, or between US$9,000 (about
Rp 85.5 million) and US$18,000 in the United States, according to
Gianti Atmojo, director of Aspectama International Education
Advisor.

In Singapore, a student who lives in a homestay or a dormitory
spends between S$700 and S$1,000 a month. "Students can also rent
an apartment and if they want to save money, they may share a
room, which may cost them between S$300 and S$500 per month," she
said.

Pursuing education overseas also encourages students to become
independent. This works well for the "spoiled" children of
affluent families with many domestic helpers, as being away from
home, the students have to do the household chores by themselves.

Indonesians, like many other international students, have the
tendency to mingle among themselves. In this case, Anita
Sutandya, director of Anindo, another international education
consultant, suggested that the Indonesians make the best of the
chance to study abroad by mixing with students from other
countries and building an international network.

Singapore, which has more than 90,000 professional expatriates
living and working there, is home to 60,000 international
students, including Indonesians.

There are three state universities in Singapore: National
University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University
(NTU), and Singapore Management University (SMU), which offer
internationally recognized degrees. Research and scholarship
opportunities are also available to post-graduate students.

NUS is the oldest university, which was founded back in 1905.
It offers courses in various disciplines such as the sciences,
engineering, technology, law, arts and social sciences and
medicine.

Singapore also has more than 200 private commercial, IT, fine
arts and language schools. These private commercial and
speciality schools offer various courses at the certificate,
diploma, bachelor and postgraduate level.

Educational institutions in Singapore usually have
partnerships with international universities from the United
States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

The Management Development Institute of Singapore, for
example, has a partnership with the Edith Cowan University in
Perth, Southern Cross University in Sydney, Oklahoma City
University in the United States and University of Wales and
University of Bredford in the United Kingdom.

The Technology Management Centre cooperates with Deakin
University and Monash University in Melbourne, Utah State
University in the United States and the University of London and
University of Westminster in the United Kingdom.

Under the partnership program, after studying for two years in
Singapore, students can continue their study at the university in
Australia, America or England. Students who want to take
undergraduate studies at the University of London, for example,
do not have to spend all their academic years in England. Since
they can study for the first two years in Singapore they will
save money and still get quality education.

They can save more money by studying in Malaysia, where the
tuition fee is between RM9,000 (about Rp 22.5 million) and
RM17,000 a year, while the accommodation is about RM500 per
month.

Malaysian educational institutes also have partnerships with
universities from Western countries. Sedaya International
University in Kuala Lumpur, for instance, has a partnership with
the University of East London and Curtin University of Technology
in Perth.

Anyone who wants to study at a foreign university but does not
want to spend much time abroad may enroll at San Benda Graduate
School of Business in Manila. Starting this year, it offers
special courses for Indonesian students: the MBA program is only
Rp 35 million (around US$3,600) while the doctoral program is Rp
69 million.

And the students can study here at home because for each
academic term, you need only study for one week on campus. The
MBA program lasts for one year, comprising of four terms. If you
take the doctoral program, you study for two years -- each year
comprises of three terms, and in the third year you should work
on your dissertation.

"On June 26 we will send 15 students of the doctorate program
to Manila," said Agung Martono, the university's representative
for Indonesia.