28 January 2021
Singapore’s six local universities offered around 1,000 extra places last year, and the universities have stated that they will continue to offer additional places this year.
This extra enrolment has pushed the student participation rate beyond the stated target of 40 per cent for every student cohort by 2020.
Some of the additional places went to Singaporeans who had initially planned to study overseas while others went to polytechnic diploma holders who opted to study instead of joining a weak job market.
Education Minister Lawrence Wong said that his ministry is prepared to make available more places this year too, if the weak global situation continues.
More undergraduates are taking up work-study degrees which allows them to alternate between work and study, especially at the Singapore Institute of Technology and Singapore University of Social Sciences which offer more of such programmes.