Amid an increasing tuition fee for students of the University of Indonesia (UI), rector Gumilar Rusliwa Somantri pledged Wednesday that gifted students who could not afford the fee had a chance to study there.
The message comes after UI’s renewed mission to develop itself as a world-class campus,
“All students must pass an academic examination proving they are capable of studying here,” Gumilar told reporters during a press briefing to announce the schedule of the university’s admission test.
“We support students who pass the test to study at the university.”
According to Gumilar, during 2009, the university had successfully provided financial assistance, ranging from partial to full tuition fees, to around 40 percent of its undergraduate students.
For this year, Gumilar said the university had earmarked Rp 36 billion (US$3.9 million) — Rp 20 billion from its annual budget and Rp 16 billion from private sector donations — to run the same financial assistance program.
The QS World University Ranking 2009 Times Higher Education has ranked the country’s oldest
university 201st in the world and 34th in Asia.
In the early 2000s, UI was given status as a state-owned legal entity, making it possible for the university management to run the university business by raising money from various parties. This was possible due to the cut in government subsidies.
The status, however, has received wide criticism because it enables a state university to require students to pay much higher fees.
Currently, undergraduate science students at UI must pay Rp 7.5 million in tuition fees per semester, compared to Rp 1.5 million in 2003. Social studies students pay Rp 5 million, compared to Rp 1.2 million in 2003.
For the 2010-2011 academic year, UI will admit 4,250 students into its undergraduate program.
Fifty-five percent, or 2,200 places, will be up for grabs in the admission test, to be held simultaneously in 46 cities across the country on April 11. The remaining 2,050 will be offered through a number of special programs and other admission tests jointly held with other universities.
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