(A concise version of this article appeared on Sunday Times newspaper 15 January 2006 entitled "A degree could cost $125,000 in 10 years" )

A LOCAL tertiary education is 860% more expensive then the entire school fees from primary school to junior college. A local medical degree is 3341% more expensive then the first twelve years of school fees. It cost $2,472 in school fees to have a student educated for the first twelve years. On the other hand it cost $23,720 of tuition fees for a non-medical bachelor degree with the National University of Singapore. For a medical degree, it cost $85,050 in tuition fees.

Whether it is for overseas or local studies, the cost of university education has been marching up - and can be expected to continue to do so. In Singapore, the cost will rise with inflation, government subsidy and university policy. These are, more or less, the same factors that drive cost increases overseas.

For the three local universities - the Singapore Management University, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) - the government subsidises an average of about 70 per cent of the tuition fees. The exception is a medical degree at NUS. Nearly 80% of the tuition fee is subsidised.

As a result, studying locally is the most economical option for Singapore citizens and permanent residents.