This is a list of universities in Singapore.
The oldest university in Singapore is the National University of Singapore, which was established in its current form in 1980, but has a history in tertiary education dating back to 1905. [1] The university along with the Nanyang Technological University are research intensive and rank the highest in global university ranking publications. [2] [3] Newer universities have been established by the Singaporean Government since 2000 that specialise in various sectors and in applied learning. [4] Singapore also has partnered and directly-operated campuses from foreign universities and other private institutions offering external degree programs from overseas institutions. [5] [6]
The university rankings included below are for reference only. Different university ranking publications use varying methodologies to rank universities [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] and cannot accurately calculate teaching performance, research quality and other abstract functions into a singular numerical composite. [13] University ranking methodologies have been criticised [14] [15] [16] for their subjectivity, bias and lack of consideration for institutional specialisations. [17] [18] [19] Institutional competitiveness reinforced by ranking publication results also discourages inter-institutional academic co-operation, non-anglophone thought and have been described a modern form of colonialism. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [19] The pursuit for higher rankings has also caused many universities globally to prioritise staff for research output over teaching skills and cause stress to high school students. [27] [28]
In March 2021, Minister for Education Lawrence Wong announced that Singapore’s first arts university would be established in an alliance between the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE College of the Arts, in a system akin to the University of the Arts, London. [29] University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) [30] was established in 2023 as a collegiate university with both colleges under the umbrella university and has been given degree-awarding powers independent of their previous foreign partners, where the long-distance degrees were issued through foreign universities. [31] Singaporean citizens and permanent residents enrolled in the approved degree programmes at the university of the arts will pay subsidised fees like those at autonomous universities. [32] The seventh local university in Singapore, it is the only publicly-funded private university other than the now-defunct SIM University in Singapore and also the only university of the arts with degree-conferring powers. It has two constituent colleges, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the LASALLE College of the Arts. [30]
Singapore has six local publicly-funded autonomous universities and a publicly-funded private university. [33] [34] [35] Dates starred with an asterisk are the earliest antecedent institution.
University | Acronym | Type | Established | QS rank [36] | ARWU rank [37] | THE rank [38] | US News rank [39] | CWTS rank [40] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National University of Singapore | NUS | Public research intensive autonomous university | 1905* | 8 | 71 | 19 | 26 | 38 |
Nanyang Technological University | NTU | Public research intensive autonomous university | 1981* | 26 | 93 | 32 | 30 | 86 |
Singapore Management University | SMU | Public specialised research intensive autonomous university | 2000 | 545 | N/A | N/A | 725 | N/A |
Singapore University of Social Sciences | SUSS | Public autonomous university of applied learning | 2005* | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Singapore Institute of Technology | SIT | Public autonomous university of applied learning | 2009 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Singapore University of Technology and Design | SUTD | Public specialised research intensive autonomous university | 2009 | 429 | 901-1000 | N/A | 432 | 1177 |
University of the Arts Singapore | UAS | Publicly-funded private collegiate university of the arts | 2023 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
University | Type | Established | Defunct | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nanyang University | Private university | 1956 | 1980 | Defunct following merger with University of Singapore to form NUS |
SIM University | Private university | 1994 | 2017 | Defunct following deprivitisation and restructuring to form SUSS |
Private education institutions (PEIs) are regulated by the Committee for Private Education (CPE). They may be campuses of foreign universities and schools or operating under a partnership with other institutions to provide external degree programs. [41] There are various accreditation and rating processes in Singapore including the EduTrust Certification Scheme. [42]
Below is an incomplete list of institutions of higher learning that offer undergraduate and/or graduate programmes in Singapore.
The following private education institutions are local branches of foreign universities. [43] Institutions are listed alphabetically in the order of country of origin and dates starred with an asterisk are the earliest antecedent institution.
Country | University | Type | Type | Estab. | QS rank [44] | ARWU rank [37] | Times rank [38] | US News rank [39] | CWTS rank [40] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | Curtin University | Comprehensive | Private campus of public university | 1900* | 183 | 201-300 | 201–250 | 160 | 310 |
Australia | James Cook University | Comprehensive | Private campus of public university | 1961* | 415 | 301-400 | 351–400 | 324 | 698 |
Australia | The University of Newcastle | Postgraduate | Private subsidiary of public university | 1951* | 173 | 401-500 | 201-250 | 231 | 388 |
France | Paris-Panthéon-Assas University | Specialised | Private law school of non-profit university | 1100* | 851-900 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
The following education institutions are operated under a partnership with local universities. Institutions are listed alphabetically in the order of country of origin. [45] [46] [47] Dates starred with an asterisk are the earliest antecedent institution.
Country | University | Abbrev. | Partner | Estab. | QS rank [48] | ARWU rank [37] | Times rank [38] | US News rank [39] | CWTS rank [40] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germany | Technical University of Munich | TUM Asia | Singapore Institute of Technology | 1868* | 37 | 59 | 30 | 79 | 102 |
Switzerland | Singapore-ETH Centre | SEC | Singapore National Research Foundation | 1855 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
United Kingdom | Newcastle University | NUiS | Singapore Institute of Technology | 1834* | 110 | 201-300 | 168 | 156 | 292 |
United Kingdom | University of Glasgow | UGS | Singapore Institute of Technology | 1451 | 76 | 101-150 | 87 | 74 | 263 |
United States | DigiPen Institute of Technology | DigiPen | Singapore Institute of Technology | 1988 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
United States | Duke-NUS Medical School | Duke-NUS | National University of Singapore | 2005 | N/A | 501-600 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
United States | The Culinary Institute of America | CIA | Singapore Institute of Technology | 1954 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
United States | Yale-NUS College (closing 2025) | Yale-NUS | National University of Singapore | 2011 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
This is a list of some non-local business schools and other institutions operating in Singapore. [49] [50]
Country | University | Abbreviation | Type | Established |
---|---|---|---|---|
Switzerland | St. Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (University of St. Gallen) | SGI-HSG | Public research intensive autonomous university | 1898 |
France | ESSEC Business School | ESSEC | Private non-profit business school | 1907 |
France | INSEAD Asia Campus | INSEAD | Private non-profit business school | 1957 |
India | S P Jain School of Global Management | SPJAIN | Private business school | 2004 |
Switzerland | EHL Hospitality Business School | EHL | Private non-profit hospitality school | 1893 |
The following private education institutions offer external degree programmes (EDPs) with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees conferred by the institutions' partner universities. [43] [6]
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a public university in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it is also the second-oldest autonomous university in the country. NTU is frequently ranked within the world's top 30 universities according to most major international rankings, and is widely-considered to be one of the two most prestigious universities in Singapore, the other being the National University of Singapore.
The University of Malaya is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in newly independent Malaya. The university has graduated five prime ministers of Malaysia, and other political, business, and cultural figures of national prominence.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public collegiate and research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University.
Education in Singapore is managed by the Ministry of Education (MOE). It controls the development and administration of state schools receiving taxpayers' funding, but also has an advisory and supervisory role in respect of private schools. For both private and state schools, there are variations in the extent of autonomy in their curriculum, scope of taxpayers' aid and funding, tuition burden on the students, and admission policy.
Hunan University is a public university in Yuelu, Changsha, Hunan, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction.
The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public university in Singapore. Founded in 2000, SMU is the third oldest autonomous university in the country, modelling its education after the Wharton School. The university is triple accredited by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. In 2024, SMU was ranked 44th in the world for Business and also placed in the top 100 for Economics and Finance by QS.
Zhengzhou University is a provincial public university in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Henan. The university is part of Project 211 and the Double First-Class Construction.
China Agricultural University (CAU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. It is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction.
Wuhan University is a public university in Wuhan, Hubei, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First-Class Construction.
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational knowledge transfer and the certification of new knowledge" through the awarding of doctoral degrees. They can be public or private, and often have well-known brand names.
LASALLE College of the Arts, simply known as LASALLE, is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution in Singapore, and a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) from 2024.
James Cook University Singapore is a branch campus of James Cook University, a public research university based in Australia. Established in 2003, it is currently the only overseas institution with university status in Singapore. While the university offers a comprehensive range of courses, it specialises in ecology, marine and environmental sciences. The Singapore campus is located between Kallang and Geylang in the Central Region on the former site of the Manjusri Secondary School. The closest MRT stations to the campus are Kallang and Aljunued.
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution in Singapore, and a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) from 2024.
Curtin University Malaysia is the Malaysian campus of Curtin University, a public university based in Australia. It is the university's largest campus outside of Australia with a total area of 1,200-hectare (3,000-acre) comprising academic and residential blocks. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in various fields of commerce, engineering, computational sciences, humanities and health sciences. It also offers foundational courses and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) among other higher degree by research programs. It is named after John Curtin, a prominent Prime Minister of Australia during World War II from 1941 to 1945.
Curtin Singapore is the Singaporean campus of Curtin University, a public university in Australia. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs in healthcare, computational sciences, commerce and communications with plans to expand to science and engineering. The campus also offers a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) higher degree by research program. Curtin University is named after John Curtin, a prominent Prime Minister of Australia during World War II from 1941 to 1945, and is the largest university in the state of Western Australia with 58,607 students globally in 2022.
Amity University, Noida is a private research university located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was established in 2005 by an Act of the State Legislature of Uttar Pradesh. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission and accredited by the NAAC with grade 'A+'. It has several campuses in India and overseas branch campuses in London, Dubai, Singapore, Mauritius and Uzbekistan.
The Singapore Institute of Technology is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university offers industry-focused, applied degree programmes; it confers its own degree programmes as well as specialised degree programmes with overseas universities.
Yale-NUS College is a liberal arts college in Singapore. Established in 2011 as a collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore, it is the first Liberal Arts college in Singapore and one of the first few in Asia. With an average acceptance rate of 5.2%, it is among the most selective institutions in the world. Yale-NUS was the first institution outside New Haven, Connecticut that Yale University had developed in its 300-year history, making Yale one of the first American Ivy League schools to establish a college bearing its name in Asia.
The University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) is Singapore's first public-funded private university of the arts. It was formally announced in 2021, as an alliance between LASALLE College of the Arts (LASALLE) and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Under this arrangement, the two institutions operate as distinct entities yet allows students to access opportunities from both schools.