KUCHING – Top performing SPM, STPM and UEC graduates who enrol on a course of study with Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus could get as much as 80 per cent off their tuition fees.
The new range of bursary schemes will see about 380 newly enrolled students on its foundation, bachelor’s degree and postgraduate programs shave off part of their fees.
“To further promote higher education, we’ve introduced five additional bursary schemes for 2016,” said Swinburne Sarawak Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer Professor Janet Gregory.
The schemes offer a waiver of up to 30 per cent off the first year tuition fee.
“While the qualification for a bursary is mostly based on academic achievements, we recognise that some students excel in extra-curricular activities. We now have allocations for this category of students.”
Gregory said the bursary schemes are in addition to the scholarships and industry awards offered by Yayasan Sarawak and private organisations already made available at the university.
“With the variety of financial aid available, tertiary education at Swinburne Sarawak is undoubtedly very attractive.”
Apart from the hands-on focus of its curriculum and exposure to industry, she said that the ability of Swinburne Sarawak graduates to communicate confidently in English is another reason they are sought after by employers.
“As an Australian university, English is the medium of instruction. We place strong emphasis on a high standard of the language because it is the lingua franca of the world.
“It is this combination – the skills, knowledge and good English – that has contributed to the employability of our graduates.”
Based on the university’s statistics in the last few years, more than 90 per cent of its graduates are absorbed by industry within six months of graduating.
Since the business, computing, design, engineering and science courses at Swinburne Sarawak are identical to those of its home campus in Melbourne its graduates are awarded the same internationally recognised parchment.
Swinburne Sarawak currently has about 4,000 students who could transfer to complete their studies at the Melbourne campus or conclude a semester there through an exchange program.