Friday, 29 Mar 2024

Coronavirus: Autonomous universities freeze fee hikes for citizens, offer more financial aid to students in need

SINGAPORE – All six autonomous universities will freeze tuition fee increases for Singapore citizens enrolled in government-subsidised undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for the academic year 2020, even as the coronavirus situation develops.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and tertiary educations said on Wednesday (April 1) that as key national institutions with a public mission, the institutions are committed to ensuring the affordability of higher education for Singaporeans, especially during challenging times.

Their move is in line with the one-year deferment of government fee increases announced under the Resilience Budget, delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in March to help the population cope with the economic downturn during the coronavirus outbreak.

The six universities – the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore Institute of Technology and the Singapore University of Social Sciences – will also step up efforts to reach out to students in financial need.

This will take place through a combination of government assistance and financial aid provided by the universities, they said.

MOE and the six universities said that the fees will be reviewed again before the start of the next academic year.

Singaporean undergraduates and postgraduates who enrolled in academic year 2019 will not have to pay for any planned fee hikes set for the next academic year, and will continue to pay what they paid during the 2019 academic year.

Foreigners and permanent residents are not covered by the fee hike deferment and will have to pay the expected increase in fees. More details will be released on the universities’ websites by Friday.

Earlier, the Government said it has frozen all government fees and charges for the year, beginning in April and ending March 31 next year.

It has also suspended all loan repayment and interest charges for graduates who have taken government loans for university and polytechnic studies, starting from June and ending May next year.

More Singaporeans are expected to require financial support during the coronavirus outbreak, as business sentiment plummets and as consumers stay home.

Singapore’s economy shrank 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year and could be headed for a full-year recession, which would be the first time in two decades. 

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