University moves towards self-funded masters degrees

President of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Tan Eng Chye said on Wednesday 7 December that some masters degrees will soon be fully self-funded and will not receive government subsidies, writes Amelia Teng for The Straits Times.

Speaking during a panel discussion during a two-day event organised by Times Higher Education and hosted by NUS, he said this means that for these courses, the university would be able to charge tuition fees comparable to those billed by overseas institutions, and this would then be a revenue source. Tan said: “Capitalising on NUS’s brand, in the last few years, instead of having the Ministry of Education sponsor our masters courses, we have actually made all these masters courses into a self-funding model. So basically, we are not getting any subsidy for masters programmes and we are doing it on a self-sustaining basis.”

He was referring to coursework-based programmes, which are designed for university graduates who want to advance their knowledge in chosen specialisations through courses and electives. In response to queries, an NUS spokesman said: “The majority of masters degree (coursework) programmes at NUS are currently on a self-funded model. The move towards a self-funded model began in 2020, and will be completed by 2024. Selected programmes will continue to receive subsidies.”
Full report on The Straits Times site