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Graduate study opportunities in Singapore
Driven by excellence, a Singapore education offers a broad-based curriculum and global perspective that equips students with qualifications and training well regarded internationally for their quality and relevance to meeting the new challenges of a dynamic, knowledge-based economy.
There are currently some 80,000 international students from more than 120 countries studying in Singapore. These are made up of Asian students seeking high quality education close to home, as well as students from the U.S., Europe and even places as far flung as Nigeria seeking a global educational experience in a culturally diverse Asian city. Many international students who choose to pursue graduate education in Singapore are attracted by the good quality of degree programs offered by Singapore’s local universities and leading international universities that have campuses based in the city. In addition, Singapore offers a wide range of graduate programs in engineering and technology, sciences (including life sciences and health sciences) and business.
Singapore has, over the years, developed a strong public education system with high standards in teaching and learning. The three local public universities, the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU) are internationally recognized for their good-quality teaching, and advances in technology and research. In the 2006 World University Rankings conducted by QS and co-published by the Times Higher Education Supplement, the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University were ranked 19 and 61 respectively out of the top 200 universities worldwide. The Singapore Management University, which opened its doors in 2000, is modelled after the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and aims to groom outstanding business leaders and creative entrepreneurs capable of excelling in a rapidly changing and dynamic world.
Being in the heart of South-East Asia, Singapore is where western and eastern influences converge. Singapore has the capability to offer students the best of East-West education pedagogy with Asian contextual applications. For example, at the NUS Business School, their knowledge of western business practices and technology, and their understanding of Asia allow them to provide ‘The Best of East and West’ in business education and research, thereby offering a truly global exposure.
In Singapore, a multitude of study options are available for graduate students, ranging from mainstream courses to the niche areas. In its bid to be industry-relevant, it also offers a myriad of specialty courses such as tourism and hospitality and digital media, that will prepare students for their future careers and enable students to contribute to the growing needs of the global economy in these same areas.
Surrounded by the world’s fastest growing economies, studying in Singapore also enables students to be plugged, first hand, into the pull of high-end corporate businesses whilst imbibing academic rigors from the best of global institutions. Institutes of higher learning work collaboratively with businesses in Singapore and the region via numerous research and internship programs to ensure that the research does not remain within the confines of the universities, but will result in products and innovations that will benefit societies and drive the economy. Emphasis is placed on ensuring that every student is equipped to think and act like global citizens. Students are encouraged to take up internships/industrial attachment programs, which will help them gain early insights into the working world, both in Singapore and overseas, and give them a head start in approaching their future employers.
Students studying in Singapore are also encouraged to participate in exchange programs with the universities’ foreign counterparts. This will help them to gain international exposure and thereby better prepare them for a career in the global environment. When they graduate, students go away not only with an academic dimension but would have acquired the relevant skills and abilities to survive in competitive environments, and are well equipped for integration into the global community and the workforce.
Singapore’s vast range of educational options provides world-class education at affordable costs. For students studying at leading foreign universities in Singapore, although tuition fees may be comparable to those of the main campuses, the lower cost of living in Singapore in addition to the internationally welcoming environment makes it a choice alternative.
