Students shocked by UNSW Singapore campus closure
By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 23 May 2007 2311 hrs

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	Related News • University of New South Wales Singapore campus to shut in June

SINGAPORE: The decision to shut down the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Singapore campus comes as a shock to many students.

The UNSW says students will be offered a place at its home campus in Sydney and there will also be scholarships to help with the cost of travel and accommodation.

These scholarships will be based on needs and not on academic achievements.

But most students Channel NewsAsia spoke to were not quite convinced.

Many had chosen the Singapore campus because they could not afford to go to Australia.

And though the school is helping out financially with the scholarships, it is not clear at this point in time how much exactly the school is willing to fork out.

Still, the university claims that about half its students have indicated that they would like to go to Australia to continue their studies.

Most of the local students who enrolled in the university come from the polytechnics.

"It's quite an inappropriate time, with our exams coming as well. If they decide to close down after one semester, they should have done adequate research to see if this whole university was even feasible in the first place," said a student.

"Knowing that the school is a creditable one, it is unbelievable that this thing can happen," said another.

"I do not know what is the next step I need to do. To transfer to another school or go to Sydney? What is the option for us? Now, they have not known what are the private institutes we can go to to transfer in Singapore," said a third student.

The school says that it is also in talks with local institutions and other universities in the region to offer these students a place to continue their education.

But this is little consolation for the 48 foreign students who wanted an Australian degree and Singapore cost of living.

"The school is offering us to go back to Australia to study, but I cannot go back. I end up paying something like $30,000 and I can do nothing. I've spent the money and yah, it's pretty hard for me now," said a student from Hong Kong.

"I hope not to go back to Indonesia. I'm seeking to go overseas because it's a better education but now this happens, it's a bit confusing for me," said a student from Indonesia.

"Before this, I was in Los Angeles. I was going to go to UNSW in Sydney but I ended up coming here because Singapore is also a good place. It's a good name, it's a good school, so I thought I'll give this a try, moved everything from LA, came here....I don't know what I'm going to do right now," said a student from the US. - CNA/ir