Students at Institutes of Higher Learning Billed for Full Tuition and Other Fees When on Mandatory External Internships and Consideration of Fee Proration

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Education (a) whether there are students at autonomous universities and other Institutes of Higher Learning who are billed for full tuition and other compulsory fees during semesters spent on mandatory full-time external internships with no regular coursework; (b) what services do these fees fund during such periods; and (c) whether fee proration will be considered for these periods.

Mr Desmond Lee: Institutes of Higher Learning typically derive the semester fees based on the total cost of the degree or diploma programme nett of subsidies, if any, spread evenly over the standard number of semesters required to complete the course. The standard number of semesters includes the duration of mandatory full-time internships that form part of the course graduation requirement. As such, there is no need for fee proration while students are on such internships.