Are you preparing for your child’s university education? This series explores the fees incurred for your children’s schooling. Welcome to Part 4 – about tertiary education costs in Malaysia.

This is the last part of education costs where we covering all the way to tertiary education . We have covered education costs for the kindergarten, primary and secondary levels in previous articles if you have yet to check it out.

The tertiary education level is the most expensive and will determine the career paths of your children. So, you must pay a lot of attention to the education pathways and the associated costs.

#1. What Does Tertiary Education Involve?

In Malaysia, tertiary education can be broadly divided into two stages.

  • Firstly, the pre-university (pre-U) stage consists of one to two years of education that provides the foundation for your child before they enter into a degree or diploma.
  • Secondly, university education ranges from 2 to 5 years depending on whether it’s a diploma (2 – 3 years) or degree (3 – 5 years).

This will also be the stage where your children will choose a ‘specialisation’. The tertiary level can broadly be divided into the following pathways.

  1. Engineering & Architecture: All types of engineering specialties such as civil, mechanical, chemical and etc, and architecture.
  2. Medicine & Health Sciences: Doctors, surgeons, dentists, and all other medical professionals.
  3. Accounting, Business & Finance: Accountants, general business and finance professionals.
  4. Law: Training to be lawyers and law professionals.
  5. Social Sciences: Economics, sociology, and all other social sciences.
  6. Humanities: English, history and other humanity subjects.

#2. Government Options

There are many government options for pre-university and university courses. Let’s start with pre-university courses first.

A. Pre-university

There are four options that you can consider for your child.

1. Form Six

Right after form 5, your child can opt to enter form six which is around 2 years of study. At the end, he or she will be sitting for Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) which can be used to apply for most public and private universities in Malaysia.

Tuition is generally free, but not all secondary schools will offer form six. You can check out which schools and colleges offer Form Six here.

2. Matriculation

The matriculation program or most commonly called ‘Matrikulasi’ is a preparatory program offered by the Ministry of Education for students who want to go for courses in science, technology, and professional arts at public universities in Malaysia and abroad.

Matrikulasi is technically not free (heavily subsidised by the government) but is considered very affordable with tuition estimated at RM500 for the whole 1 to 2 years course.

3. ASASI

ASASI can be considered ‘Foundation’ programs offered by the respective public universities in Malaysia. It offers a more direct pathway to the university (should your child have a specific university in mind) as they are conducted in the universities themselves.

An ASASI program could cost between RM1,100 to RM3,000.

4. TVET

After Form 5, your child can opt to go for Technical, Vocational, Engineering and Technology (TVET) colleges. If he or she already has a vocation in mind that they want to pursue, this is the most direct path to getting certification from the various industries in Malaysia.

B. Public Universities

The Ministry of Education heavily subsidises most of the public universities in Malaysia. However, you would still need to pay quite a high tuition cost in comparison to government education at the primary and secondary levels. Public universities can generally be divided into

  1. Public University (UA)
  2. Polytechnic College
  3. Community College
  4. TVET College

According to Overseas Chinese Banking Group (OCBC), a public university in Malaysia costs about RM7,500 to RM15,000 for the whole course depending on what kind of study.

For a comprehensive list of all public educational institutes managed by the Ministry of Higher Education, you can refer here.

#3. Private Options

Are you ready? Private tertiary education costs in Malaysia is considered much more expensive. We will first cover the pre-university options first then move on to university courses in Malaysia and abroad.

A. Pre-university

There are MANY private pre-university courses options in Malaysia. We will focus on four main ones.

1. A-Levels

A United Kingdom (UK) pre-university program geared for entry into UK universities. An A-level course typically takes 1.5 to 2 years and is estimated to cost between RM20,000 to RM38,000.

2. AUSMAT / South Australian Matriculation

An Australian program geared for entry into Australian universities. An AUSMAT or SAM course could take up to 1 year and cost up to RM27,000.

3. Canadian Pre-University

A Canadian program for entry into Canadian universities and could cost between RM27,000 to RM31,000.

4. American Degree Program

Considered a university degree program, where you take 2 years in Malaysia and another 2 years in the U.S. The 2-year course in Malaysia could cost between RM59,000 to RM67,000.

B. Private University

This section will be divided into two. One, private education in Malaysia and two, private education overseas.

1. Malaysia Private Universities

According to data from OCBC, a Malaysian private university is estimated to cost RM110,000 for the whole course (3-4 years). This will or course vary according to what kind of field your child is going to go for.

2. Overseas Private Universities

An overseas university cost is the most expensive one. If you opt to go overseas, these costs could be what you are looking at

  • Australia: RM263,000
  • United Kingdom: RM496,000
  • United States: RM518,000

#4. Tax Relief and Government Assistance

You can still put into SSPN Prime even if your child is going to university. So, you are still eligible for tax relief of up to RM8,000.

And Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN) has specific clauses for tax relief for pre-university and university students.

  • RM2,000 for each unmarried child of 18 years and above who is receiving full-time education (“A-Level”, certificate, matriculation or preparatory courses).
  • RM8,000 for each unmarried child of 18 years and above who is receiving full education in respect of a diploma or degree in Malaysia or outside Malaysia.

At this stage, the most common government assistance you should consider is the PTPTN loans.

They are education loans that are offered to students from lower-income backgrounds to attend universities. And they have very low interest rates. The student would only need to repay after they have finished their education.

Next, you should consider applying for government scholarship programs. According to the government website, here is a list of what you can apply for under the Public Service Department (PSD):

#5. Hidden Costs to Look Out For

There are always hidden education costs that you should consider. Here are some of them:

  1. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels: If the university or college is not near you, your children would have to move to the university’s accommodation.
  2. Transport: They would need to travel to university.
  3. Education services: Oral or written education services provided at any levels that includes radio, television and other communication forms.
  4. Insurance and financial services: Universities would require your child to be covered under some form of insurance.

We do not have perfect data so we will be using DOSM’s data on people aged 15 to 30. They spend a total of RM1,710 per month on housing (RM1,026), transport (RM480), education services (RM34), and insurance and financial services (RM170).

For six years of education, they will spend RM123,120 (RM1,710 X 12 months X 6 years).

#6. The Estimated Total Cost

What is the rough figure that you should be looking at for about 4 to 6 years of tertiary education?

In total, a tertiary education could cost between RM131,120 (public university, tuition of RM8,000 + hidden cost of RM123,120) to RM679,634 (RM556,514 + RM123,120).

The RM679,634 figure is yet to consider the cost of living for overseas student and the impact of education inflation which is approximately 7-8% per annum. There are two main reasons for the higher overseas education inflation. 

  1. Education costs overseas have skyrocketed overseas.
    According to data from USNews, tuition costs in the U.S. has increased by an average of 3.4% annually from 2012 (US$30,658) to 2023 (US$44,433).
  2. The Ringgit has significantly weakened
    The Ringgit has weakened by an average of 3.8% every year from 2012 (3.06 to 1 USD) to 2023 (4.59 to 1 USD).

Conclusion

Finally, as you reach the planning for the tertiary education stages, there are various options to consider. Even for a public education option, you would still have to pay quite a bit for tuition fees as compared to free tuition at the primary and secondary level.

If you are looking for international exposure for your child, tertiary education overseas could be your choice but it will be expensive.

 

What tertiary education options are your child considering and why?

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