45% of university students are not Singaporeans?

April 5, 2014

I refer to the article “35% of NUS student population are foreigners” (TR Emeritus, Apr 5).

It states that “However, the latest NUS Annual Report [Link] revealed something startling. It showed that the proportion of foreign students in NUS, the top university in Singapore, is exceptionally high at 35%:

AY2012/13 AY2011/12 AY2010/11
FT Students         11,683         11,699         11,518
Total Students         33,398         33,008         32,874
% FT 35.0% 35.4% 35.0%

This means more than one-third of the student population in NUS are foreigners.”

45% of students are non-Singaporeans?

I looked at the NUS Annual Report – if I assume that 15% of the 21,715 non-international (local) students are permanent residents (PRs) – the percentage of non-Singaporean students works out to 44.7% (11683 international + 3,257 PRs = 14,940 non-Singaporeans divided by total of 33,398 student population).

71% of graduate students are non-Singaporeans?

For graduate students, the percentage of non-Singaporeans works out to be 71.3% (4,586 international + 728 PRs (assuming 15% of locals) divided by total of 7,828 graduate student population).

$302m surplus – increase tuition fees?

Since the annual report indicates a surplus for the year 2013 of $302.2 million, why is there  need to raise tuition fees again this year?

Leong Sze Hian

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About the Author

Leong
Leong Sze Hian has served as the president of 4 professional bodies, honorary consul of 2 countries, an alumnus of Harvard University, authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been a radio talkshow host, a newspaper daily columnist, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for theonlinecitizen and Malaysiakini, executive producer of Ilo Ilo (40 international awards), Hotel Mumbai (associate producer), invited to speak more than 200 times in about 40 countries, CIFA advisory board member, founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of 2 countries. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional  qualifications.