BY LOW WEI XIANG

THE three public universities here — the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management University — will raise tuition fees this year by between 3 and 18 per cent.

The fee hike is due to higher operating costs and to further differentiate citizens from permanent residents (PRs) and foreigners, said NUS and NTU yesterday.

The size of the hike varies across faculties, and will widen the gap in fees paid by citizens and those paid by PRs and foreigners.

PRs will pay 20 per cent more than citizens while foreigners pay 60 per cent more, up from 10 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively, now.

The latest round of fee hikes comes after polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education raised their fees last month, and the Education Ministry did so for mainstream schools this year, in the process drawing sharper distinctions between citizens and non-citizens.

The three universities promised that financial assistance will be readily available for all deserving students, regardless of citizenship status.

Professor Er Meng Hwa, NTU's senior associate provost in charge of undergraduate education, said that"no admitted Singaporean student will be deprived of a quality university education because of financial constraints".

weixiang@sph.com.sg

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