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Since 27th March 2006

Introduction

This Chapter entails the study opportunities and courses offered for Malaysians at government (public) universities for STPM (Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia) or its equivalent holders at Bachelor’s Degree level.

The Chapter also touches on the admission requirements and applications procedures, through the centralised processing agency namely BPKP, to study in public universities (government universities) for the following people:

1. STPM holders

2. STAM (Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia) holders

3. Diploma holders, and

4. Ministry of Education Matriculation holders

The centralised processing agency known as the Bahagian Pengurusan Kemasukan Pelajar or BPKP (formerly known as Unit Pusat Universiti, UPU), one of the divisions under the Department of Higher Education Management, Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), processes applications from the above Malaysian qualification holders for entry into the public universities in the country. All applicants need to obtain the university application forms from this agency for entry into public universities.

Currently there are 17 government public universities in Malaysia; comprising 16 public universities and 1 international university. There is one more which has already been set up in the state of Terengganu, namely Universiti Darul Iman Malaysia (UDM); its first student intake will be in June/July 2006 for diploma level courses. These 16 public universities together with UDM offer Diploma and First Bachelor’s Degree programmes to Malaysian students whilst the international university, namely International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), accepts both Malaysian and international students. The door for postgraduate programmes in all the public universities is open to both local and international students.

(Note: However in order to attract more international students to Malaysia ,the government has a policy that allocates 5% of the none-core Bachelor’s degree programmes in the public universities to international students.)

This chapter only focuses on the study opportunities in public universities for Malaysian students at the bachelor’s degree level.

TYPES OF ACCEPTED QUALIFICATIONS & THE PROVIDERS

The Malaysian SPM holders or its equivalent are eligible to apply to study Diploma level programmes while for Bachelor’s degree level programmes, the public universities only accept candidates who posses STPM or its equivalent.

For SPM Holders or Its Equivalent
Diploma Level
The following public universities accept SPM holders or its equivalent into their Diploma programmes for the 2006/2007 academic session:

1. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

2. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

3. Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)

4. Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (KUiTTHO)

5. Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia (KUSTEM)

6. Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM)

7. Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan & Teknologi Malaysia (KUKTEM)

8. Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia (KUIM)

9. Kolej Universiti Kejurteraan Utara Malaysia (KUKUM)

10. Universiti Darul Iman Malaysia (UDM) *
    (* Application Form for 2006/2007 intake has to be obtained directly from these universities)

Degree Foundation Course
The following three public universities offer degree foundation courses for SPM holders:

1. Universiti Malaya (UM) – offers ‘program Asasi’

2. Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) – offers ‘Program Matrikulasi’

3. Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) – offers ‘Asasi Undang-Undang’ and ‘Program pra ijazah’

For STPM Holders or Its Equivalent
 

Bachelor’s Degree Level

Why Study in Public Universities for Bachelor’s Degree

The public universities’ First Bachelor’s Degree programmes are still the preferred choices of the STPM holders although the private higher education sector has grown tremendously over the past 10 years. Below are listed some factors why STPM holders prefer public universities:

1. Public universities’ degree qualifications are recognised by the Public Services Department (Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam, JPA), thus public universities’ graduates can work in the Government sector;

2. The course fees of undergraduate programmes at public universities are heavily subsidised by the government and therefore, their overall education cost is much cheaper than that at the private higher educational institutions (IPTS);

3. More places are available for professional and critical courses such as Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Engineering, Accounting, Architecture and Law at public universities. The degree qualifications are mostly accredited and recognised by the respective local professional bodies

4. Public universities offer wider choices in the areas of humanities and social sciences as well as education

However, the places for courses in public universities are limited. Therefore, you can expect keen competition for critical courses such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, electronic engineering, chemical engineering, law and accounting. One example is the medical degree programme for the academic session 2005/2006 where candidates need to score Grade A for all 4 STPM subjects or a CGPA of 4.0 (which is a perfect score).

There is a centralised processing agency known as the Bahagian Pengurusan Kemasukan Pelajar or BPKP or The Division of Student division (formerly known as Unit Pusat Universiti, UPU) which processes applications from the above qualification holders for entry into the 17 public universities in the country. This agency which is under The Department of Higher Education Management (Jabatan Pengurusan IPT) of the Ministry of Higher Education is responsible for the management of the admission of students into public universities.

The main function of BPKP (or ‘UPU’) is to process and coordinate the intake of Malaysian students into local public universities for the following programmes of study:

• Programmes after SPM

• Programmes for Government recognised Diploma Holders

• Programmes after Matriculation programmes

• Programmes after STAM

• Programmes after STPM

• Master’s degree programme in medicine

The intake into the public universities through this centralised agency is once a year and usually in the month of July.

However BPKP is not involved in managing the intake of the following categories of students into public universities and as such these groups of students are required to contact the individual public universities directly. The students involved here are

• foreign students

• students who undertake programmes conducted via the Distance Learning Education mode or programmes being offered at Certificate level

• students of franchised programmes conducted at IPTS

General Entry Requirements
The general entry requirement for Diploma level is SPM qualification while that for undergraduate studies is STPM or equivalent qualifications such as Matriculation certificate of Ministry of Education, STAM and Diplomas which are recognised by the Government

Applicants, whether Malaysians or non-Malaysians, must fulfil the standard requirements as well as specific conditions like subject requirement, interview and others set by the respective public universities before they can be accepted by the public universities. These admission requirements are detailed in the ‘UPU’ application form.

Application Procedures
Availability of Application Forms
The ‘BPKP IPT’ or ‘UPU’ application forms are made available to

1. STPM / STAM qualification holders in January of intake year

2. SPM qualification holders in February of the intake year

3. Matriculation qualification holders in November prior to the intake year

4. Diploma qualification holders in November / December prior to the intake year