Government to create 3000 more publicly-funded university places by 2020

The overall publicly-funded participation rate could go up to 50% by 2020.

According to a press release  the Government has accepted the recommendations of the Committee on University Education Beyond 2015 (CUEP) to expand university places, by developing a new applied degree pathway that will provide more opportunities and choices in a diverse university landscape.

Here's more from the government:

As announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech, more publicly-funded university places will be created for Singaporeans. By  2020, there will be 3,000 more places compared to today. This would raise the cohort  participation rate (CPR) to 40% by 2020. Together with an expected increase to about 10% of the cohort receiving degree education through publicly-funded part-time places by 2020, up to half of each cohort could receive a government-subsidised degree  education.

The increase would be implemented through: The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), which will become Singapore’s fifth autonomous university; and  Full-time degree places in SIM University (UniSIM).

This development will expand the university sector, diversify the education  opportunities available to Singaporeans, and better prepare Singapore’s workforce for the future.

The demand for graduates is likely to increase as Singapore needs a highlyskilled and sophisticated workforce to drive its future economy. The 2010 Economic  Strategies Committee (ESC) concluded that Singapore had to move towards  productivity-driven growth to progress beyond its present stage of development.

This  could be achieved through a qualitative transformation of the economy and the creation of higher value jobs.

The expansion is carefully calibrated. The Government agrees with the Committee’s assessment about the risks of expanding the university sector too much and too fast, at the expense of relevance to students’ aptitudes and economic needs.

By 2020, the Government will increase the number of publicly-funded, full-time university places for Singaporeans by 3,000 compared to today. This will raise CPR to  40% by 2020, compared to the current CPR of 27%. As a result, there will be 16,000  degree places each year by 2020, up from 13,000 places today. This will translate to a steady increase in places in the university sector from  AY2013 until AY2020, including the places we had planned for in the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Technology and Design, SIT and the publicly-funded degree programmes offered by the two arts institutions, LASALLE and NAFA, as part of the plans to meet the 30% CPR target by 2015.

To diversify the educational offerings, a new applied degree pathway will cater to a broader range of students with different learning preferences and interests, and create a close nexus with industry and economic needs to enhance employability of  graduates.

The Government also supports the Committee’s recommendation to grow more opportunities for Singaporeans to undertake publicly-funded part-time (i.e. continuing education and training) degree places. Currently, an estimated 7% of a cohort pursues a publicly-funded part-time degree. As demand for skills upgrading increases, this CPR
could increase to about 10% by 2020.

The overall publicly-funded CPR could therefore go up to 50% by 2020.