'Ensure growth in uni places is affordable'

Speaking at a creativity conference hosted by SMU yesterday, SMU President Arnoud De Meyer commented on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's announcement to raise Singapore's university participation rate from 27% to 40% by 2020 and shared his concern about the growing burden on finances. Professor De Meyer said that while a plan to boost university places is good for the nation, Singapore needs to ensure that the cost of higher education does not become "unaffordable". He also noted that if the Government goes too far in increasing the percentage of the age cohort that can attend higher education, it will become unaffordable for governments to pay for undergraduate education. The Government currently subsidises about 75% of every Singaporean's tuition fees.