Malaysia is a country situated in Southeast Asia. Its capital is Kuala Lumpur and the official language is Malay. The country is comprised of 2 parts split by South Chinese Sea – West and East Malaysia. The west side borders Thailand and Singapore and the east borders Brunei and Indonesia. The population is estimated to be just over 32 000 000 people. Malaysia is a mostly Muslim country.
Malaysian economy is one of the fastest developing in Asia, with its steady growth of circa 6.5% per year. In 2018 the GDP was estimated at $1 trillion US Dollars, which ranks it 26th in the world. Foreign investments also play an important part for its growth. There is unevenness in the welfare of the various ethnic groups. For example 1/3 of the population is Chinese but they own 70% of the country’s capitals.
Malaysia has over 630 Higher Education Institutions, of which 25 public universities, 60 private universities and 10 foreign university branch campuses; 420 active private colleges, 35 polytechnics and 80 public community colleges. The tuition fees are estimated to be around $5800 dollars per semester, or around $35 000 dollars for the whole duration if you enroll in a 3-year-degree programme.
Bachelor degree – 3-5 years
Master degree. – 1-3 years
PhD degree – 3-5 years
Education in Malaysia is 11 years, in order to get enrolled in a university you have to pass 1 additional year of education, so that 12 years of education is completed.
The primary language of instruction is the local one – Malay. Nevertheless, many universities offer programmes in English as a step torward improving the quality of education in Malaysia.
More than a million students were enrolled in Malaysian universities in 2018, of which close to 200 000 were international students from more than 100 countries. Most of the international students hail from Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore.
Malaysian universities offer more than 250 programmes in more than 25 academic fields. The most preferred ones are Medicine, IT, Business Administration and Agriculture.
There are only 13 universities placed in the prestigious QS University World Ranking. Below is a list of them:
