Education in Singapore - Universities

Universities

Singapore has four universities, namely the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University and SIM University (UniSIM).

The Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore each have more than 20,000 students and provide a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes including doctoral degrees. Both are also established research universities with thousands of research staff and graduate students.

A third university, Singapore Management University (SMU), opened in 2000, is home to more than 7,000 students and comprises six Schools offering undergraduate, graduate, and PhD programmes in Business Management, Accountancy, Economics, Information Systems Management, Law and the Social Sciences. The University has an Office of Research, a number of institutes and centres of excellence, and provides public and customised programmes for working professionals through its Office of Executive and Professional Education.

The fourth university, privately-run SIM University (UniSIM), opened in 2005.

Two other public institutions are also sponsored by the government: the Singapore University of Technology and Design and the Singapore Institute of Technology. Many private universities exist, including foreign universities which have established campuses in Singapore such as the Chicago Business School and Technische Universität München.

The James Cook University Singapore, University of Adelaide, Southern Cross University University of New Brunswick, Queen Margaret University, Temple University, The City University of New York, Baruch College, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Aventis School of Management, Curtin University of Technology & University of Wales Institute, Cardiff have established offshore campuses in Singapore to provide local and foreign (in particular, Asian) students the opportunity to obtain a Western university education at a fraction of the cost it would take to study in Canada, the UK, the U.S.A. or Australia. University of New Brunswick College, Singapore, Queen Margaret University, Asia Campus, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Asia began operations in Singapore between 2007 and 2008, with the Curtin University of Technology Singapore Campus & University of Wales Institute, Cardiff: Asia Campus due to join them in December 2008.

The government has planned the fourth public university, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), to meet the rising demand for university education. It will start its operations in April 2012. Its permanent campus at Changi will be ready by early 2015.

A fifth public institution Singapore Institute of Technology was announced in 2009. The institution starts in 2010 and is intended to provide an upgrading pathway for polytechnic graduates.