[26 January 2007]
Tuition fees for incoming AY 2007 cohort

Total tuition fees guaranteed over period of study

Singapore, 25 January 2007 – Tuition fees for the new cohort of undergraduate students joining Singapore Management University (SMU) in Academic Year (AY) 2007 will remain at S$7,500 for the first year and will be revised to S$8,300 from AY 2008 onwards for their second, third and fourth years. This applies to all incoming students pursuing undergraduate degree programmes in SMU with the exception of Law. Current students already enrolled in SMU are not affected by this revision.

Tuition fees for the pioneer cohort of undergraduate students who will be pursuing the four-year single degree Law programme or the five-year double degree Law programme at SMU will be S$9,000 per year. This will remain unchanged over the entire course of their study.

“The higher tuition fees for the law programme reflect the University's investment in highly trained law faculty attuned to the importance of comparative and emerging fields of law as well as faculty who will provide law students with a sound education in business, finance, economics and subjects related to law that are critical to becoming a successful practitioner in today's highly sophisticated multi-national corporate and commercial legal practice. The SMU law students will be required to complete the core requirements of the SMU curriculum, which will include a mandatory internship and community service project. In addition, they will participate in business study missions with a focus on law and legal practice in other jurisdictions. Students also will benefit from a low student-faculty ratio, individualised attention and close interaction in small seminar-style classes similar to those in the best American law schools,” said Professor Howard Hunter, President, Singapore Management University .

SMU assures prospective students that their total tuition fees over the course of their study will remain unchanged. SMU adopted the fixed fee model last year after evaluating several pricing models and extensive consultations with student leadership, prospective students and their parents. A fixed fee model guarantees that total tuition fees are locked in and remain unchanged for the entire duration of study, providing the assurance and certainty for both students and parents.

SMU's long standing philosophy and belief is that no deserving students will be deprived of an education because of financial hardship. A comprehensive range of financial assistance packages is made available to qualified students who face financial difficulties. SMU provides work-study grants, study loans, notebook loans, scholarships and bursaries which complement other government financial aids such as the Tuition Fee Loan Scheme and the CPF Education Loan. Every year in SMU, one in nine incoming students qualifies for a scholarship. SMU also has a student employment unit to assist students seeking off-campus part-time employment to help with their educational expenses.

Law undergraduates are eligible for eight different scholarships including the Lee Kong Chian Scholars Programme, the SMU Scholarship, Li Ka Shing Endowed Scholarship and the Goh Foundation Scholarship. New scholarships by top law firms will also be made available to law students. About 20% (or one in five) of our first intake of 90 law undergraduates stands the chance to qualify for a scholarship.