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GEORGE TOWN: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has 237 foreign students from 75 countries enrolled for the new academic year at its three main campuses in Penang and Kelantan.
They make up 5% of the university’s intake of 4,684 students this year. Most of them are taking post-graduate studies in the management, engineering, medicine and computer sciences.
USM has included latest advances such as Industrial Revolution 4,0, Artificial Intelligence and the mining of Big Data into various syllabus, said its International Mobility & Collaboration Centre director Dr Muhizam Mustafa.
This year’s intake of 237 foreigners brings the number of non-Malaysian students at USM to about 3,000. The total number of on and off-campus students at USM is close to 35,000. It plans to have 4,000 foreign students by 2035.
Muhizam said there is a reverse trend with students from the West, Arab and African countries now coming here to study so that they could benefit from the global economic shift to Asia.
“Previously, it was Asians seeking education in the West but now, there is a change in tandem with the economic shift,” he said.
The affordability of the fees is another factor apart from Malaysia being known as a country where English is used widely, he added.
USM also has 90% of its courses instructed in English. “But all students must sit for a basic Bahasa Malaysia examination. They need to pass the basic Bahasa comprehension subject to graduate,“ Muhizam added.
USM has its main campus in Sungai Dua here while its engineering campus is at Nibong Tebal and its medical campus in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan.
