THE local branch of an Australian school has launched a bid to become the newest member of Singapore's fraternity of foreign universities.

JCU Singapore, the 1,100-student strong offshoot of James Cook University, wants to apply to become an institute of higher learning.

The designation would allow the Singapore campus to call itself a university - which it is currently barred from doing so - and place it on a par with schools like University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the S.P. Jain Center of Management, which were brought here by the Economic Development Board.

'It seems like an anomaly,' said JCU vice-chancellor Sandra Harding. 'The Singapore campus...is run like the main campus, the degrees offered here are the same as in the campus in Australia and the same standards are applied.'

Professor Harding and chancellor John Grey are in Singapore to meet education authorities to study what criteria they have to meet to upgrade its status.

The bid for university-hood comes as JCU, based in Bukit Merah's Spring Singapore building, searches for a new campus. The school hopes to see enrolment swell to 5,000.

JCU is currently designated a private education organisation. According to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority website, students from institutes of higher learning enjoy privileges such as shorter visa processing time. They can also work part-time.

Queensland-based James Cook University opened the Singapore campus in 2001 with a local partner. Enrolment has grown from 50 to 1,100 in four years.

Its 18 degree courses - ranging from business to psychology - follow the curriculum of JCU Queensland and students in the Singapore campus sit for the same exams as their peers in Australia.

Nine of the 52 full-time professors here are Australians and several professors from the Australian campus fly in regularly to teach electives, said Mr Dale Anderson, the chief executive officer of the campus here.

About 40 per cent of the students at the JCU campus here are Singaporeans; others hail from China, India, Japan and other Asian countries, as well as Sweden and Finland.

Several programmes, including its psychology degree, are accredited by professional bodies in Singapore and Australia.

The main university in Queensland was rated the 12th best in the country by the well-regarded Shanghai Jiao Tong University Index. There are 37 Australian universities.

Professor Harding said JCU will ramp up its degree offerings as well as its research here.

'We have much to offer in certain fields, which we have made a name in, such as climate change and tourism development,' she said.

The university has one of the most eminent academics in tourism, Professor Philip Pearce. Another of its dons, Chris Cocklin, shared in the Nobel Peace Prize awarded jointly to former United States vice-president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Chancellor Grey said JCU was hoping to find a big enough site for a permanent campus here, adding that it was prepared to invest substantially in Singapore.

'I can state, categorically, that we are here to stay,' he said.

Following queries from The Straits Times, the Education Ministry would only say it seeks to develop a 'high quality' university sector.

The ministry is selective about the institutions and programmes which it recognises as part of the university sector, it said in a statement.