By Sandra Davie

ANDERSON Junior College student Kenneth Tham scored two As and a B in his A levels, and had his heart set on studying psychology.

He was offered a place at the Singapore Management University, but instead chose a private course - the State University of New York at Buffalo programme run by the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM).

The private education route meant a quicker, more direct path to realising his dream of becoming a clinical psychologist.

He explained: 'I can get a basic degree and master's in four years through the private school route. The SMU degree would have taken me four years, after which I would have had to spend another one to two years on a master's course.'

Studying in Australia or the United States would have been too costly for his widowed mother and older sister to afford. Three years at SIM would cost close to $60,000. The additional one-year master's programme would cost another $30,000.

The 22-year-old is now in his second year after scoring a perfect grade point average of four in his first year. He hopes to graduate with honours.

He is among about 15,000 local students pursuing degrees full time at the five bigger private schools here - SIM, the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS), PSB Academy, Kaplan Singapore and James Cook University Singapore.

SIM's global education arm runs close to 50 degree programmes with reputable overseas universities, and has more than 7,000 local students studying full time for degrees at its Clementi Road campus. Five years ago, it had only about 3,000 full-time local students.

MDIS, which has a sprawling campus in Queenstown, has in three years doubled the number of local full-time students to 4,000.

The PSB Academy expects 450 local students to enrol for its full-time degree courses this year, treble the number two years ago.

Kaplan Singapore in Orchard Road has, in the first half of this year, doubled its last year's intake of local students.

James Cook University Singapore, which is moving to an 18,500 sq m campus in Upper Thomson, said local students used to take up one-third of the places. Now, they comprise 40 per cent of the enrolment.

The surge in full-time students from Singapore is a big change from just a few years ago, when the private institutions drew mostly working adults doing part-time degrees.

What accounts for the boom?

Private-school officials point to the rising number of young Singaporeans aspiring to a university degree and the crunch in places at the three Singapore universities.

They cite the sharp increase in applications to the local universities, which reached a new high of 58,606 this year, up from 53,853 last year.

Even with more places - 14,700 this year - only half the local students who applied will get a place.

SIM chief executive officer Lee Kwok Cheong said that even when the fourth university is up, only 30 per cent of each batch of school-leavers will secure places in a local university.

'The remaining 70 per cent represent a significant group that cannot be ignored,' he said.

Singapore students at the private schools agree that they see having a degree as a necessity, but they are also quick to say they will not settle for a second-rate degree that will not help them in the job market.

That is why they seek out private schools with reputable brand-name university partners.

Those who picked SIM point out that its list of 10 university partners includes the University of London, the University of Sydney and the University of Warwick. A recent addition is the International Hotel Management Institute of Switzerland, which offers hotel-management degrees.

Among the PSB Academy's partners are the University of Newcastle, ranked among the top 10 Australian universities, and the University of Western Australia, one of Australia's group of eight research universities.

The rising cost of going overseas is another reason why more Singapore students are turning to private schools. Spending between $20,000 and $60,000 over three or four years here is much more affordable.

Students say the bigger private schools have shaped up markedly, improving their facilities, courses and teaching.

The schools have upped their quality in order to ride on the Government's plan to attract 150,000 international students here by 2015.

Besides finding reputable partners, several have set up full-fledged campuses and improved the 'fun factor' as well.

Bigger centres such as SIM, MDIS and the PSB Academy boast a vibrant campus life with active student bodies and sports clubs.

At the PSB Academy, which is owned by a German group, students can play a range of sports, including basketball, cricket and football, and also showcase their talents during lunchtime on Fridays.

Vice-president Dora Ng said: 'We provide the full university experience.'

SIM was well ahead of the rest when it opened its $100 million Clementi campus in 2001.

With lecture theatres, seminar rooms, laboratories, a library and facilities for student activities, it was quickly dubbed Singapore's unofficial fourth university.

It also offers personal development, enrichment and wellness programmes, as well as career talks and recruitment fairs for its students.

Its range of sports clubs is wide, and includes floorball, windsurfing, wakeboarding, dragon boating and volleyball.

Ultimately, though, what counts are academic results.

The schools say they score on this front too, and many take out newspaper advertisements each year to celebrate their top graduates.

SIM, for example, produced a record number of 51 first-class honours graduates last year for its University of London programme - the majority from Singapore.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on June 19, 2008.