Engineering in Singapore - Study and Living Cost

Engineering in Singapore: How much does it cost?

Edited By Manashjyoti | Updated on May 06, 2016 09:23 AM IST

Engineering in Singapore: With a per capita income that would put even many other developed countries to shame, it is no surprise Singapore, for some time now, has been cited as a yardstick for development and universal health. But these days Singapore has found another cause for celebration: it is the country’s higher education which is taking center stage, making it especially popular among international students, including engineering aspirants.

Engineering in Singapore: How much does it cost?

Along with management, accounting for the largest number of enrollment in Singapore is engineering, which can be attributed to top universities in Singapore, including National University of Singapore and National Technological University, offering popular engineering courses. Both universities feature in the top 50 universities in the world for engineering and technology in ranking lists published by major agencies like QS and Times Higher Education.

If engineering is where your heart is and you are sure Singapore ticks all the right squares, then the next obvious step is to find out how much does it cost to study engineering in Singapore. So, here we bring you the cost of studying engineering in Singapore to make your task that much easier.

Cost of studying engineering in Singapore: Tuition fee

Postgraduate tuition fee at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, the two top-ranked universities in Singapore and which are ranked 12^th and 13^th respectively in the QS world ranking 2015, can reach upwards of S$30,000. In dollar terms, it is more than $22,584 per annum, which pales in comparison to cost of pursuing engineering in US, especially from a top university like Stanford or MIT, where annual fee can top $50,000 annually. So, if you are ready to look beyond the US, you have the motivation to study in Singapore right here.

Tuition fees at top universities in Singapore

Institute	QS World Ranking 2015	Health insurance	Tuition fees (S$) per annum
Institute	QS World Ranking 2015	Health insurance	Undergraduate	Postgraduate
National University of Singapore	12	$135.70	37,550	30,350
Nanyang Technological University	13	$81	-	30,400
Singapore University of Technology and Design	-	S$235.00	26,000	26,000
SIM University	-	-	55,417.44 - 69,785.40	6,420
Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)	-	-	34,800	34,800

Low tuition fee would help you keep the cost of studying engineering in Singapore within reasonable limits. Of course, there are many other factors like living costs and other expenses that need to be taken into account when calculating the overall cost of studying in Singapore, but low tuition fee is always a welcome sign. It is also important here to put the HSBC report into perspective, as Singapore not necessarily is the second costliest destination for engineering students, but it is only an overall reflection. Furthermore, when calculating costs, many lowly-ranked universities, where fees tend to be low, could have been included which in turn might have pulled down overall cost of studying in some countries like the US, where there are many such universities, as also public universities which again typically have low fees.

Singapore University of Technology and Design is another good bet for a postgraduate degree in Singapore, and has an annual fee of S$26,000. At the postgraduate level, the lowest tuition fee among the institutes listed here, however, goes to SIM University, S$6,420 per annum.

The undergraduate tuition fee at National University of Singapore stands at S$ 37,550, which is higher than the S$26,000 at Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Universities in Singapore cater to all levels of study in the field of engineering –bachelors, master’s and doctoral.

Cost of studying in Singapore: Living expenses

Living expenses is the second biggest contributor to the cost of studying in Singapore after tuition fees. You will be expected to spend on a variety of commodities like accommodation, meals, transport and entertainment. Of the lot, accommodation alone may cost you around SGD $35,573 per year. When selecting an accommodation, you have the following options:

on-campus housing,
renting a room in a public housing apartment
renting a public housing apartment
renting a room in a private apartment
renting a 3-bedroom ( or something similar) private apartment

While there are a number of options in front of you, a private apartment (SGD $600 - $1,300 per month) should be your choice if you want a cheaper option. Otherwise, you can go for private apartments, which has a price tag of $4,000 - $7,000 per month.

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Other living expenses

Item	Cost
Accommodation	SGD $18,486
Meals	SGD $8,699
Local Transport	SGD $1,087
Telephone	SGD $621
Miscellaneous (i.e. relocation & settling in expenses, excludes leisure)	SGD $2,330
Laptop	SGD $1,243
Travel for exchange and job search (optional)	SGD $3,107
Total Expenses	SGD $35,573

Cost of studying engineering in Singapore: Health insurance fees

An integral part of the admission process today, health insurance is mandated by universities because otherwise high medical costs of the host country can deter international students to seek medical intervention, especially when it is a critical illness or situation, and would involve costly procedures. NUS, for example, has its own full-time Student Insurance Scheme, which costs around $66.85 per semester, with the fee being included in the Miscellaneous Student Fees section of the student bill and collected on a semester basis.

The insurance fee at Nanyang Technological University and Singapore University of Technology and Design are $81 and S$235.00 respectively. While health insurance fee isn’t much, and won’t make a big difference to the overall cost of studying engineering in Singapore, if you club it together with other expenses like exam fees, membership fee for different societies, et al, you may end up with bigger value. So, it is sometimes helpful to account for these small expenses as well.

Cost of studying engineering in Singapore: Admission-related expenses

Score of either IELTS or TOEFL, which shows your English language proficiency, is needed for admission to most universities in Singapore. While TOEFL is available for US $170-220, IELTS costs around $170.

Postgraduate students also need to take the GRE test as part of their admission requirement and the fee for the exam is US $205. In case you want to reschedule the exam, you have to pay extra $50. There is also a late registration fee of $25.

Scholarships to counter cost of studying engineering in Singapore

While studying engineering in Singapore can be a daunting prospect financially, there are a host of scholarships on offer for international students that lessen the burden. Some of the popular ones include Nanyang Scholarship, which is a merit-based undergraduate scholarship for outstanding freshmen at the university and awards full tuition fees; and the Singapore Millennium Scholarship, which carries a monthly award of S$2000, S$3000, and S$5000 for M.Sc, Ph.D, and postdoctoral training, respectively.