Hostel fees to increase every year till 2010

Hannah Yan | h_y@nus.edu.sg
the ridge news
A NUSSU Publication

Feb. 14, 2008

Story Highlights:

• Rentals of halls and residences is rocketing up
• Plans for fee hike long fermented but the decision was delayed
• Current rates cannot sustain operational and maintenance costs
• Students on scholarships propose living stipends to rise in sync
• Subsidies and loans available for needy students but are often underused

Two days after the lunar new year break came the news of hiked hostel fee in the National University of Singapore.

The increased hostel fee will affect all students living in the six halls and three residences on campus with effect from the next semester. Students who wish to stay in halls during the coming holiday will pay the current rental fee.

The hall meal plans charges remain the same.

The increase differs from hostel to hostel. The rates of single room and double room in the next semester will rise 20 percent and 25 percent respectively.

The price hike is phased in over three years to make it gradually meet the target. The weekly rate of a single room, which is currently $60, will increase by $15 in 2008 and 2009 each and eventually reach $100 in 2010.

In a similar manner, the rate of an air-conditioned type A room in Prince George’s Park Residences, will escalate to $180 in 2010, to increase by 63.6 percent from the current rate of $110.

The last adjustment of hostel fee took place in 2004. Hostel fee was adjusted several times previously since the days when halls were first opened in the 1960s. A single room costs around $30 then.

Associate Professor Tan Teck Koon, dean of students, said in a forum discussion with residential assistants that fee adjustments happen every time “when old hostels were upgraded and new ones are built.”

As living cost is rising across the country, the operational cost of running the hostels can no longer be sustained with the current rate.

Tan said that plans for fee increase for the past three years was delayed as corporatization of the university took place in 2006, and the GST hike in 2007.

The Ministry of Education provides funding for the building of a hostel, but the daily operational cost must be bore by the school.

“Building Sheares Hall and Kent Ridge Hall each cost around 25 million dollars,” he said.

And the upgrading expense is in no small amounts either. For PGP, repainting the buildings cost two million dollars, changing the curtains cost one million and switching into digital locks and keys cost another several millions.

According to Tan, MOE has reduced the funding after the university corporatized.

He also said that the “sinking fund” for hostels in NUS, one that similar to the maintenance fund in public housing which covers the operational, cyclical maintenance and repair costs, is now in deficit.

Like any other times when the school announces fee hike, Tan suggested the various kinds of financial assistance. He introduced a new scheme called the Cash Assist Loan available soon with a yearly award of $6,000 for locals and $3,000 for international students.

Three graduate students from India asked Tan whether the scholarship they receive will increase in sync with the fee hike. Tan replied the negotiation between the Graduate Student Society and the Office of the Provost on the issue of increasing living stipend is still under way.

Many of the undergraduate scholarships are offered by the corporate sector to students from all universities and may not readily adjust their stipends on behalf of NUS fee hike.
Scholarships offered by NUS may not increase in sum of the money but may increase in quantity. The number of NUS Merits Scholarship awarded will increase from 80 to 300, Tan said.

Alex Lim, a second-year chemistry student, asked for alternatives other than fee hike to counter the rising cost.

Tan pointed to cost-saving and referred to the attempts by all hostels in “trying to cut down the cost of operation.”

He said that if a hall wants to cash in on upgrading, it needs to firstly obtain approval from the Office of Student Affairs, which will review the expense together with Office of Estate and Development; then it needs to write to finance office, and finally, list the purchase publicly and choose the supplier with the lowest quotation.

But for cost-saving, one of the difficulties is to track down the source of energy wastage. Not all units have electricity meters.

Tan said, “At night PGP blocks are like lanterns. All the lights in the kitchens are on.”

Students discussed with Tan the possibility of using commercialization to offset the raising cost, suggesting opening up some function rooms to appropriate businesses.

Tan referred to the practice of many university hostels in England which are gaining big holiday revenues by asking all student residences to leave to accommodate conference groups.

He said in Singapore it might not be viable to ask all students to leave during holidays and said that in many countries it is cheaper to live off-campus, while in Singapore it is the contrary.

Tan mentioned that $100 per week for a single room in 2010 is a predicted amount. “It’s a goal we set, but ten years later the amount may change.”

“We’d rather bite the bullet now and get it done in 2008,” he added.