Private institutions of higher learning free to raise fees

Private higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country are free to raise their tuition fees but must get approval from the Ministry of Education (MOE) in advance.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said tuition fees at private universities are different from public universities but they cannot raise it without the approval of the ministry.

"There are no prohibitions to private universities to raising their tuition fees, but they need to study the various aspects before making any decisions, especially in the current economic situation.

"If tuition fees are too high they will lose a lot of students who have chosen to continue their studies at a higher level," he said when met after attending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP); Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten); Multimedia University (MMU) and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) here yesterday.

At the event, UTP was represented by its Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Abdul Rahim Hashim, UNITEN represented by its vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kamal Mustapha Kamal Nasharuddin while MMU was represented by its president Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Rafi ahmadf Eshaq and UNIKL represented by its president Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Sains Mazliham.

The MoU was signed by four government-linked universities in an effort to improve the quality of education in the country so as to share existing expertise in various aspects.

Idris said that while the power is in the hands of the ministry, the ministry gives leeway to private universities and there is no objection in raising university tuition fees in each institution.