Breakdown of Annual Sources of Income of Autonomous Universities

Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Education since 2000 (a) what are the respective annual levels in dollar amounts of (i) government funding; (ii) philanthropic and private giving; (iii) university endowments; (iv) income from auxiliary enterprises, including but not limited to hospitals, enterprise incubators, and rental space; and (v) research income including but not limited to grants, for our universities; and (b) for each group (i) what is the breakdown as a percentage of the total budget for autonomous universities and per university; and (ii) what is the dollar amount per university student and as a percentage of spending per university student.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: In FY2006, Government funding (including operating and research grants) was $1.9 billion, and investment income (including income from endowment) was $0.3 billion. The corresponding figures in FY2013 were $2.8 billion, and $0.5 billion respectively. These figures are for the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU), which were the only three universities that turned autonomous in FY2006.