Singapore is the 2nd most expensive city in the world for students

SINGAPORE: A recent study from the international remittance service firm Remitly revealed that the Little Red Dot is the second most expensive city across the globe for students. Remitly looked into data from more than 1,700 universities and cities, which showed that seven out of the top 20 most expensive places for students are cities in the United States.

The company took the following factors into consideration: average cost of living, rent, student visa fees, and national average tuition fees, assigning each city with an ‘Education Expenses Index score’ out of 100. The lower the score, the more affordable the city is for those who are yet to enter the workforce.

Perhaps it comes as a surprise to no one that New York City is topping the list with a score of 100 on Remitly’s index. The Big Apple’s average daily cost of living is US$35.22 (S$45), rent costs US$5,102 (S$6,571), a visa costs US$159.13 (S$205), and the average tuition fee is US$30,748.98. Whew.

Second-placer Singapore, meanwhile, scored 94.24 on the index with an average daily cost of living of US$24.34 (S$31.34), rent costing US$3,630.65 (S$4,676), and a visa costing US$67 (S$86).

When it comes to tuition, however, the average in Singapore is more than two times higher than any other city on the list, and in Sydney’s case, more than four times higher. The average tuition fee in Singapore is listed at US$64,460.00 (S$83,013). Fortunately, tuition grants, scholarships, and subsidies are available, not only for Singaporean citizens but also for Permanent Residents and even international students.

San Francisco, Boston, and Pasadena round out the top five most expensive cities to study in. Aside from Singapore, only Sydney, in 18th place, and London, in 19th, are in the top 20.

Interestingly, in Asia, all the top ten spots on the list of the most affordable cities to study in are cities in China. Zhenjiang tops the list with a score on the index of 14.23, due to low rental prices of US$291.19 (S$375) on average and a cost of living of US$8.62 (S$11).

“Chinese universities are gaining global recognition for providing outstanding education in topics including engineering and computer science and technology, while maintaining dramatically lower costs than their Western counterparts. For instance, Tsinghua University ranks 20th globally in computer science, while Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranks in 49th spot globally,” Remitly notes. /TISG

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