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What's the difference between a public and private university in Malaysia?

I want to return to study, but the course fees in the UK are annoyingly out of reach for me.

Malaysia I am told is one of the cheapest countries around for international study, with some public unis offering courses from £387 - £1,290 per academic year. :eek:

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/study_in_malaysia.htm

However, I notice that private unis are nearly 3 times more expensive, why is this? Would a degree from a public uni be looked down on by the Malay elite?

Reply 1

Tyler Bam

Hey, sorry to see you haven't had any replies to your thread yet. :frown:

Are you sure you’ve posted in the right place? Posting in the specific university or course forum should help get more responses. :redface:

If you haven’t already found it, then university connect is a really useful way for finding people at your course/university! You can also find a list of applicant threads and courses here. :h:

It's worth checking out if you have questions.

If you need advice on your academic work, then the Study Help section will be able to help you. :h:

Hope this helps! :h:

Reply 2

ArcaneArrowX

Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Hey there,

I am Malaysian and have been raised and living in Malaysia for 21 years. I believe I can shed some light on this situation. Yes, public unis are the cheapest as they are heavily subsidized by the government. Private unis are not cheap at all.It can range from RM 30,000 to 90,000 per year. Private unis are expensive I believe simply because of the great fuel of demand from Malaysian students. I believe this is owing to the discriminating education policies in Malaysia against non-Malay ethnic races which mainly are the Chinese and Indian. Public unis have a high admission for the Malay race while maintaining a relatively low admission and quota for other races. This is one of the features of Malay Special Rights stated in Article 153 in the constitution of Malaysia where the Malay race is given special position and benefits for public education including scholarships. There are also quite a few institutions which exclusively accept students who are of Malay race.You can read more about it here. After doing the math, there are approximately 2.5 million non-Malay students trying to get into universities. However, majority of them do not end up in public universities due to that policy in place. So where do they end up? Elsewhere. Large amount of them will go overseas and have a career somewhere else while some will remain here. Those who remain here will have no choice but to go to private institutions. Malaysia has been highlighted by World Bank's senior economist Philip Schellekens as one of the countries facing a severe brain drain. Hence, this situation gave rise to the demand of private institutions in Malaysia to cater for and accept this majority group of non-Malay students who decide to study locally. Within the past few years, there has been a boom in the private education sector here in Malaysia as enrollment rates are increasing. Hence, entrepreneurs and businessmen seize this opportunity to provide supply for such a great demand. They are able to charge crazily high prices simply because they know the students need them more than they need the students due to such great demand. In economics point of view, these students have a low price elasticity (their decision will not be greatly affected by the price) simply because they have no choice. Hence, these private institutions carry out price discrimination by giving out partial scholarships to maximize their profits. Therefore this situation has created a rather polarized environment and society in public and private universities in Malaysia. In terms of facilities and equipment, private could be better because they are able to charge such prices which allow them to plow their earnings into expansion and capital expenditure. However, some public unis also have the best equipment around. I hope this answers your question on the differences.

For your second question, not only Malay-elites but most Malaysians including generally prefer overseas graduates because they have the perception that Malaysia's education is of no match to those typical western countries like US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Malay-elites themselves or even other elites in general will send their kids to international school and overseas to further their studies. So sad to say, in some implicit ways, yes you could be looked down upon on. However, I believe this mind set is changing with the Malaysian youth striving towards moderation. But think of it again, why would you need to impress them or the elite group? You should think of how to make the best for yourself and make it happen for yourself and not rely on connections from elites.

I hope I managed to answer your questions in general and I am giving my opinion as a person who believes in economics, or the "invisible hand", being the notion of Adam Smith. I am in no way siding any races or taking political sides. I believe you are mature enough to decide what is right and wrong in front of your eyes.

Feel free to ask me any other questions.

Reply 3

HSafirah

Hello there,

I'm a Malaysian. Generally, people tend to assume that studying in a public uni is not as good as studying in a private uni. Probably because of the thought that 'the more you pay, the better the quality is'. But then again, this does not apply to all. It is true that good universities in Malaysia (the private ones) are more expensive, however, you must remember that price does not necessarily reflects quality.

Those who go to private college or uni most probably are the sponsored students - but some of the scholars decided to go to a public uni too because they preferred the environment, course, etc.

For Malaysian, it is quite cheap to study in a public uni because the government subsidised some of the education fund. It is an advantage to those who cannot afford to go to private colleges/unis, because they can at least go to the public unis.

But then again, quite a number of successful men and women came from public unis too- so, it really depends on the individual themselves actually.

Feel free to ask :smile:

I can ask my friends/relatives about unis in Malaysia. What course are you interested in?

Reply 4

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Original post by HSafirah

Hello there, I can ask my friends/relatives about unis in Malaysia. What course are you interested in?

Thanks for your help.

I am interested in a course similar to South East Asian Studies, or something where I can learn about the region first hand. I don't know if anything like that exists though in Malaysia.

Reply 5

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Original post by justinchanjinle

Hey there, I am Malaysian. Feel free to ask me any other questions.

Thanks for the advice. Do you know anywhere in Malaysia (preferably KL) that has a course like South East Asian Studies, or a history based course on the region?

Reply 6

HSafirah

Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel

You're welcome,

At the moment, I found one university (Universiti Sains Malaysia) - a public uni, offering the course ;Master of Social Science - Asian Studies

An insight into its course structure (mixed mode):

Courses (44 units)
Compulsory Courses:

•

International Relations

•

International Political Economy

•

Research Methodology

•

Dissertation

Any five from the following courses:

•

Economic Transformation of East and Southeast Asia

•

Regionalism and Cooperative Processes in East Asia

•

Politics and Society in Southeast Asia

•

Culture and Societies in Asia: Selected Themes

•

Contemporary Politics in East Asia: Selected Themes

•

Islam in Southeast Asia

•

Comparative Social Policies in Asia

•

Government and Politics in Malaysia* (*Offered under the MPA programme)

You might find these links to be useful:

http://www.ips.usm.my/index.php/programme/mixedMode/asianStudies
http://www.ips.usm.my/index.php/currentStudents/examination/courseworkModeAndMixedModeProgramme

I am yet to receive more information regarding the course from my friends. This might be the only course offering asian studies in Malaysia. But, fret not- I'll try to get more information for you. The uni is located in Penang, which is in the northern east coast of peninsular Malaysia. Might take more than 3 hours to go to KL

Reply 7

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Original post by HSafirah

You're welcome,

At the moment, I found one university (Universiti Sains Malaysia) - a public uni, offering the course ;Master of Social Science - Asian Studies

I am yet to receive more information regarding the course from my friends. This might be the only course offering asian studies in Malaysia. But, fret not- I'll try to get more information for you. The uni is located in Penang, which is in the northern east coast of peninsular Malaysia. Might take more than 3 hours to go to KL