Tertiary Tuition Fees in 2010

It was reported that tuition fees will go up in the new academic year 2010 for students at polytechnics and ITEs.

While no word is mentioned on fee increase for other tertiary institutions, there was already a fee hike for universities in the past year. See table below for tuition fees per annum at our 3 local universities.

	NUS		NTU		SMU
Acad Yr	SC	SPR	SC	SPR	SC	SPR
2008/9	6,360	7,000	6,360	7,000	9,130	10,040
2009/10	6,620	7,290	6,620	7,290	9,600	10,560
2010/11	?	?	?	?	?	?
*SC: Singapore Citizen  SPR: Sg Permanent Resident
NUS fees refer to faculties e.g. Arts SoC, Engrg & Science. NTU fees refer to faculties e.g. Engrg, Humanities, Comm Studies. SMU fees refer to faculties e.g. Accountancy, Bus & Science.

Though the fee increase in 2009/10 was deferred (only for the first year of studies) due to tough economic conditions, students and families will have to fork out the higher fees for the remaining tenure of their university education. If fees remain unchanged, a local 4-years university education will minimally cost a Singaporean family 4x6620= $26,480. This does not take into account other miscellaneous expenses e.g. transport, food & daily living expenses, hostel accommodation (if residing on campus), additional expense on course books and reading materials.

Imagine the fees for a toddler going to university in 20 years time?

	NUS		NTU		SMU
Acad Yr	SC	SPR	SC	SPR	SC	SPR
2010/11	6,620	7,290	6,620	7,290	9,600	10,560
2030/31 (Inflation@3%)	11,956	13,167	11,956	13,167	17,339	19,073
2030/31 (Inflation@5%)	17,565	19,343	17,565	19,343	25,472	28,019

What if he/she has the inclinations or potential to pursue a university education in overseas institutions? That’s a huge challenge for mom & pop (and the CPF Education Loan Scheme can’t help out here).