Malaysia Higher Education

FROM Africa to the Middle East and China, the foreign student population in Malaysia is steadily growing from day to day. With three more years to 2010 - the end of the five-year Ninth Malaysia Plan - Malaysia has surpassed the half-way mark of seeing itself as a global education hub inhabited by 100,000 students from overseas.

More than 55,000 foreign students from over 100 countries are currently pursuing their pre-tertiary and tertiary studies at various educational institutions in Malaysia.

To date, Malaysia boasts over 17 public educational institutions, an International Islamic University, 21 private universities, five foreign university branch campuses, over 500 private colleges, as well as 32 international schools and 14 expatriate schools for local as well as international academic needs.

Reputable universities from the United Kingdom and Australia have set up branch campuses in Malaysia, while their counterparts from the United States, Canada, France and Germany are offering external, twinning as well as franchised degree programmes in collaboration with local institutions. Their selling point is none other than to provide an affordable alternative for local (or overseas) students to acquire prestigious university qualifications with lower living expenses.

According to StudyMalaysia.com, the cost of living is in the RM800 to RM1,000 per month range or RM9,600 to RM12,000 per year for a student. This, however, depends on the student's lifestyle as well as the cost of living that varies from one location to another (the cost of living in the city is about 10% higher).

For international students, it is estimated that completing a three-year degree programme would require about RM60,000 to RM90,000 to cover their tuition fees and living expenses. Apart from the affordable living cost and tuition fee, international students can also study one degree programme in a Malaysian university and earn two degree qualifications upon graduation - one from the Malaysian university and the other from a reputable foreign university.

DIRECT COST

Starting way back in the early 1980s, Malaysia has been acknowledged as one of the regional pioneers in the development and promotion of transnational Bachelor's Degree programmes, collaborating with reputable universities from countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, France, New Zealand, Germany and Australia.

A hallmark of "Study in Malaysia", the "2+1" undergraduate twinning degree programme has helped many local and international students save substantial costs in their pursuit of internationally recognised Bachelor's Degree programmes.

According to StudyMalaysia, enrolling in a "3+1" twinning degree engineering programme in Malaysia can save a student a staggering A$60,000 (RM117,940) in tuition fees and living costs compared to doing the entire four-year degree course in Australia.

An extension of a twinning programme, a "3+0" Bachelor's Degree programme from leading foreign universities also entails big cost savings. For example, the tuition fee for a three-year UK Engineering Degree in Malaysia is about US$13,100 (RM45,313) compared to US$16,500 (RM57,060) per year in the UK.

(Under the "3+0" arrangement, Bachelor's Degree programmes from foreign leading universities are conducted in their entirety by private higher educational institutions in Malaysia.)

Closely related to the "3+0" programme is the offering of courses by foreign universities in Malaysia. Since 1998, five international universities, including Australia's Monash University and UK's University of Nottingham, have set up their branch campuses in Malaysia, offering exactly the same degrees as their main campus abroad.

In terms of cost comparison, the tuition fee of a three-year UK Engineering Degree is priced at about US$7,600 (RM26,277) per year in the Malaysian branch campus as opposed to US$22,300 (RM77,100) per year in the UK main campus.