Why the steep hike in tuition fees, union asks Universiti Malaya

 

The Universiti Malaya students union wants the university to explain the rationale for the hike in fees for certain courses.

PETALING JAYA: The Universiti Malaya students union has demanded that the administration explain why it is raising tuition fees “substantially” for the 2021/2022 academic year.

In a statement today, it said the fee hike of between 10% and 60% involving many courses is unreasonable considering that the costs of other programmes have seen increases of less than 10%.

The union said among the degree courses affected is the bachelor of finance, which saw fees for the 2021/2022 academic year increasing from RM9,740 to RM13,900, a 43% hike.

It said the bachelor of accountancy course will also see its fees up from RM7,860 to RM17,900 and the bachelor of usuluddin and shariah studies from RM8,960 to RM12,400.

“We are greatly concerned that new students would not be able to afford these fees.

“The union is urging the university to explain the rationale for this fee hike,” it said, adding the university should review its decision.

The union said it was deeply disappointed over the steep increases because the courses involved do not require the use of hi-tech equipment, such as those used by the engineering, science and pharmaceutical faculties.

It also urged the university’s fee committee to include two union representatives so they could be involved in the fee structuring process. - FMT