SINGAPORE — Some 55,000 Singaporean undergraduates and diploma students — a majority from low-income families — are expected to benefit when increased government bursaries for higher education kick in from the next academic year.

To fund these bursary enhancements, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Thursday (Aug 22) that the Government will be pumping in S$44 million more per year — with this figure expected to go up with inflation — on top of the current annual funding of S$123 million.

For some undergraduate students from low-income households, this will mean additional subsidies of more than S$2,000 a year.

Another key initiative is also to encourage low-income students to take up medicine and dentistry degree courses by significantly subsidising medical studies, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said.

The ministry said that 30,000 of the 55,000 beneficiaries are expected to be students from low-income families, or those that have gross household incomes of less than S$4,000 a month.

In general, government bursaries are extended to undergraduates and diploma students from lower- to middle-income households with gross incomes from less than S$2,750 to S$9,000.

In a media briefing on Thursday, Mr Ong revealed details behind the move to make higher education more affordable and accessible, which was first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day Rally on Sunday.

WHY IT MATTERS

Improving accessibility to higher education for students from lower-income households is integral in boosting social mobility.

This has been a hot-topic issue in recent years, with recognition among government leaders that widening inequality, if left unchecked, can have dire social and political consequences for society at large.

Mr Ong said on Thursday that such efforts were essential to increase social mobility.

“Fundamentally, it was a social consideration… that as we do better in education, and more Singaporeans can participate (in higher education), including those from low-income households, we have to increase the bursary to help others,” said Mr Ong.

“Costs cannot become an impediment for a family with the hard work, talent and aptitude to upgrade their lives and get a better future for themselves,” he added.

He highlighted that across government bursaries for diploma students and undergraduates, more subsidies are given to those in the lowest income households.

Help and resources will be “heavily weighted” towards those in the lowest income tier, said Mr Ong.

MORE NEEDY STUDENTS IN POLYTECHNICS AND UNIVERSITIES

In addition, Mr Ong said that there is a need to boost bursaries as the proportion of needy students who have progressed to university and polytechnics has also increased.

Today, 21 per cent of students from the lowest 30 per cent of households in terms of socio-economic status (SES) —  which takes into account parents’ educational qualifications and housing type —  progressed to universities compared to 13 per cent 15 years ago. Currently, 52 per cent of students from the lowest 30 per cent of households in terms of SES progressed to polytechnics compared to 38 per cent 15 years ago.

KEY ANNOUNCEMENTS

So how will the higher government grants for diplomas, general university degrees, medicine and dentistry studies translate into savings for students?

HIGHER BURSARIES: UNIVERSITY DEGREES

• Take for example a student from the lowest income households (or in the 20th income percentile and below), which is defined as having a gross monthly income of S$2,750 or less.

• The student currently pays S$4,200 in net tuition fees a year after the current bursary subsidies. But with the increased bursary, he or she will need to pay S$2,000 in net tuition fees a year.

• The new enhanced bursaries will be available for all new and existing full-time undergraduates beginning from the academic year 2020, which usually begins in August.

MORE AFFORDABLE MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY STUDIES

• As mentioned by Mr Lee, significant financial aid will be given to medicine and dentistry undergraduates. The rationale behind such a move, he said, was to encourage lower-income students to take up such courses and have doctors from “diverse” backgrounds.

• Mr Ong said that currently, only 11 per cent of medicine or dentistry students come from families from the 30th percentile of household income and below.

• With the current bursary amount, medical studies for a student in that income tier at the National University of Singapore (NUS) cost around S$25,150. But with the increased bursary, he or she will need to pay about S$14,000, based on the current annual fees.

HIGHER BURSARIES: DIPLOMAS

• Take for example a student from a household in the 30th income percentile and below.

• The student currently pays S$750 in fees a year with the current bursary amount. But with the increased bursary, he or she will need to pay S$500 in fees a year.

• This will apply to all new and existing diploma students at polytechnics, the National Institute of Early Childhood Development, and arts institutions like Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Lasalle College of the Arts.

BURSARIES WILL BE RENAMED

Given the expansion of government bursaries, Mr Ong also said it was a “good time” to rename the bursaries to better reflect their intended use.

He cited that the current names were “not very intuitive to understand”.

The MOE bursary — which is fully funded by the Government and intended for students from lower- to upper-middle income families — will be called the Higher Education Bursary.

The Community Development Council/Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CDC/CCC) bursary will be renamed the Higher Education Community Bursary.

The name changes will take effect from the 2020 academic year.

LOWER FEES FOR SUSS, SIT COURSES

Annual charges for full-time general degrees at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) will also be cut.

• For SUSS general courses, fees will drop from about S$7,860 to S$7,500. This will benefit some 2,400 students – or 80 per cent of its student population.

• For SIT general courses, fees will drop from about S$8,190 to S$7,500. This will benefit some 1,500 students – or 20 per cent of its student population.

• Mr Ong said that costs still remain high for SIT students currently as there are many programmes with overseas university partners, but he expects some of these courses to transit to SIT-conferred general degree courses.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR NITEC GRADUATES

• Mr Ong stressed that the goal was to provide opportunities for all Institute of Technical Education (ITE) graduates to upgrade beyond a National ITE Certificate (Nitec) over the course of their careers.

• MOE will increase the number of placements in the ITE's SkillsFuture work-study diploma and full-time Higher Nitec programmes.

• Mr Ong said that currently, seven in 10 Nitec graduates upgrade through various publicly-funded pathways, including the full-time and part-time Higher Nitec and diploma pathways.

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of the article said 21 per cent of students in universities come from households in the lowest 30 per cent in terms of socio-economic status (SES), while 15 years ago the figure was 13 per cent. It also said that in polytechnics, 52 per cent students come from low-SES households, up from 38 per cent 15 years ago. This is incorrect. The Ministry of Education has clarified that today, 21 per cent of students from the lowest 30 per cent of households in terms of SES progressed to universities, while 52 per cent of students from the lowest 30 per cent of households in terms of SES progressed to polytechnics, compared to 38 per cent 15 years ago.