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SINGAPORE: The first degree programmes under the Singapore Institute of Technology will begin classes from August, one year ahead of schedule.
The courses will take in about 500 students this year, and fees will be set at about $9,000 a year.
Temasek Polytechnic student Aletheia Heah wants to be a chef. She is eyeing a degree with the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), but says it is too expensive. She is also finding it hard persuading family members of her plans.
She said: "They asked, 'why do you have to go and study? Because a chef doesn't need to study, you just need your skills, and go into the kitchen and do what you have to do'. But.....(you must)understand that education forms a different person in you, it gives you more discipline and it actually makes you more ready for the industry....."
But things are looking up - the institute will soon offer a programme with Temasek Poly.
Fees will also be heavily subsidised for local students. This will be the CIA's first degree programme in Singapore.
Currently lecturers from the CIA teach modules under Temasek Poly's Culinary and Catering Management diploma, and students can use credits from these modules to offset course requirements should they take up a degree programme with the CIA in the US.
In total, five foreign universities will offer eight degree courses through the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT).
While enrolment is open to all, the courses are primarily aimed at polytechnic graduates, with modules built around what's being taught in the polytechnics.
So a typical degree will take two years to complete, instead of the usual three or four years.
The five universities and their partner polys are as follows:
The UK's Newcastle University will offer three degrees in marine engineering with Ngee Ann Poly;
Singapore Poly will have tie-ups with Germany's Technische Universität München and the Digipen Institute of Technology;
Temasek Poly will conduct degree programmes with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as well as the Culinary Institute of America.
Some universities, like the DigiPen Institute of Technology, already offer degrees here. But these will eventually be offered through the Singapore Institute of Technology, with classes held at the polytechnics.
The curricula will build on the existing polytechnic courses. Faculty members from the partner university will teach some of the classes, while polytechnic lecturers and industry practitioners here will also be part of the teaching faculty.
The Singapore Institute of Technology plans to offer about 2,000 places to full-time students yearly by 2015.
The Education Ministry also announced it will scale back on fee subsidies for the upcoming Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).
The current subsidy level is about 75 per cent for local students at the public universities, and for courses with the Singapore Institute of Technology.
Annual fees in the initial years will be S$11,000. But these will go up once its campus is complete.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said: "For SUTD, we want to move towards a funding model based more on endowment, scholarships and grants. This is a more equitable model for higher education, and practised by leading private universities in the US.
"In that model, students - who will be the prime beneficiaries after graduating from the prestigious universities and who would often benefit from higher starting pay and successful careers - are asked to pay much higher fees."
- CNA/ir
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