Private higher education costs on upward spiral

In 1980, it cost RM12,999 (US$4,050) to get a degree from a local private college or university in Malaysia. That price tag has gone up, reaching about RM50,000 today. Private higher education might be getting too expensive, write Tan Choe Choe, Arman Ahmad and Suzanna Pillay in New Straits Times.

"The increase in fees by 4% to 5% each year is the norm for most private universities to defray the rising cost of operations, investments in new infrastructure and human resources," said deputy secretary-general of the Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities, and Taylor's University Deputy Vice-chancellor Pradeep Nair.

Pradeep said Malaysians might have more choices now than ever before but the reality was that having children and educating them was getting more expensive. "In the United States, out of the top 25 universities there, only four are public. You can already see the great debate there about whether education has become too expensive for the people…if this trend continues in Malaysia, it will come to a point where there will be a need for the government to start looking at how to make private education more affordable."
Full report on the New Straits Times site