High fees, strong Aussie dollar see more taking up same degree courses here
HIGH tuition fees and the strong Aussie dollar are among the reasons being cited for a dip in the number of Singaporean students heading Down Under to earn their degrees.
However, Australian universities running degree courses in Singapore are thriving.
Australian government figures released to The Straits Times show there were 8,100 Singaporeans enrolled in the 39 Australian universities at all levels in 2012, including 2,700 who moved there last year.
Yet just two years earlier, in 2010, there were more than 9,000 studying there, with over 3,000 students arriving that year.
Number of Singaporeans in Australian universities
2010: 9,000
2012: 8,100
Number of students in Australian university programmes here
2008: 15,000
2013: 26,000
(An estimated 70 per cent are Singaporean)