SIM University

SIM University (Abbreviation: UniSIM; Chinese: 新跃大学; Malay: Universiti SIM; Tamil: சிம் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is the only national private university in Singapore and is highly funded by the government. . Established in 2005, the university is started as a result of the Singapore Government mandate to set up a private university for working adults. UniSIM is approved by Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE) to award recognised Singapore degrees. Since July 2008, the government provides a tution fee subsidy for eligible Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident undergraduates. The university is part of the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) Group and a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU). UniSIM is distinct and run separately from the SIM Global Education arm of the Singapore Institute of Management, which provides degree programmes of overseas universities. The university currently admits only part-time students.

There are four academic schools in UniSIM offering undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. These are the School of Arts and Social Sciences, the School of Business, the School of Human Development and Social Services, and the School of Science and Technology.

The current patron of the university is Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of the Republic of Singapore. Its Board of Trustees is made up of prominent industry leaders, government officials and academicians in Singapore.

UniSIM has been a registered "Institution of Public Character" (IPC) in Singapore since September 2005. It is hence authorised to receive tax-deductible donations (i.e. donors are given tax-deduction for their donations).

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his National Day Rally speech on 26 August 2012, announced the creation of two more national universities in Singapore, the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the SIM University (UniSIM), bringing the total number of national universities to six. He further elaborated that as part of the Republic's efforts to raise the annual university intake, SIM University (UniSIM), which currently offers only part-time programmes to working adults, will begin offering full-time degree programmes. Mr Lee said that while UniSIM will remain a private university, more part-time places will be made available and government bursaries and loans will be extended to UniSIM's part-time students, so that they "get the same support" as part-time students in the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University.