Malaysians spend 55% of salary funding one child’s degree

A survey by Expert Market puts Malaysia at fifth most expensive country in the world to sponsor a child’s tertiary education.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian parents are forking out a whopping 55 per cent of their salaries to sponsor one child for a university degree, making the country the fifth most expensive in the world to get a university education in relation to household income.

The ranking was reported by Singapore portal AsiaOne, and quoted findings by London-based business-to-business marketplace Expert Market.

Ironically, the Expert Market survey, which is based on tuition fees listed on the Quacquerelli Symmonds Top Universities for the 2014/2015 academic year and the 2013 Gallup Median Self-Reported Income, showed that Malaysia registered the lowest tuition fee cost among the top 10 “most expensive places to send your kids to university” at £11,875 (RM76,925 or S$25,200).

Other countries “ahead” of Malaysia in the list were Romania, where parents spend 86 per cent of their salaries for the purpose, Estonia (76 per cent) and Chile (73 per cent).

The most expensive country for a university education was Hungary, which has one of the lowest household income, and where parents have to fork out a shocking 92 per cent of their salaries just to fund a child’s degree.

“Interestingly, the UK is one of the very few in Europe that charges tuition fees at all. Norway, Greece, Poland and Ireland are among several EU states that offer a degree entirely free,” the news portal quoted Expert Market as saying.

“The country has around 20 universities and fees are competitive compared to the rest of the world. However, domestically, the average wage is still only RM2,052 (S$673) per month,” said business and technology news website Business Insider Malaysia.

“This means without scholarships or loans, parents will lose over half their wages in tuition fees.”