Tertiary education is expensive. A 2015 study by the London-based business-to-business marketplace, Expert Market, says in relation to its household income, Malaysia is the fifth most expensive country in the world to get a university education.
The study noted that while the country registered the lowest tuition fee cost among the top 10 most expensive places to study, the average domestic wage is still only RM2,052 per month.
As such, parents spend 55% of their salaries for each child to complete university. So, naturally, study loans are how most tertiary education students pay for their tuition.
A HSBC Bank study released in 2016 says that 57% of the 411 parents surveyed took loans for their offspring’s university education, despite having savings. They spend an average of RM38,000 a year on each child’s education.
