After major cuts, varsities see recovery under Budget 2018

BUDGET 2018 | Most major public universities in the country will see an increase in their allocation under Budget 2018.

The increase in operations expenditure allocation will be a sigh of relief for the public universities, which have had to grapple with deep cuts this year.

The cuts under Budget 2017 were due to three consecutive years of a revenue shortfall.

However, Putrajaya has projected that the country will generate more revenue than expected this year, at RM225.3 billion instead of the estimated RM219.7 billion.

According to the Federal Expenditure Estimate, Universiti Malaya (UM) will receive RM445.4 million in operations expenditure compared to RM370 million this year. However, the amount is still lower than the RM463.9 million it was allocated in 2016.

Meanwhile, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will receive an allocation for operations expenditure of RM524.8 million next year compared to RM390.4 million this year. It received RM542.1 million in 2016.

As for Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), its operations expenditure will be allocated RM472.9 million under Budget 2018, up from RM352.7 million.

Likewise, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) will also see a higher operations expenditure allocation, at RM417.8 million under Budget 2018 compared to RM308.9 million in 2017.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) will receive an operations expenditure allocation of RM396.5 million in 2018 compared to RM290.2 million in 2017.

The institution that will receive the bulk of the allocation is Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), with an operations expenditure of RM1.670 billion under Budget 2018, marginally lower than RM1.675 billion this year.

Likewise, the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) will also see a marginal reduction in its operations expenditure, with an allocation of RM400 million under Budget 2018, compared to RM407.2 million this year.

FUNDING FOR MAJOR PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

UMUSMUKMUPMUTMUiTMIIUM

UM

Operating Expenditure

Development Expenditure

FUNDING FOR TEACHING HOSPITALS

UM Medical Centre

USM Hospital

UKM Medical Centre

Operating Expenditure

Development Expenditure

OVERALL EDUCATION FUNDING

Source: Ministry of Finance; Figures earmarked for higher education is used for years where the Ministry of Higher Education was absorbed into the Ministry of Education.

- Mkini