STRATEGIES TO MAKE EDUCATION MORE AFFORDABLE

In today's competitive and rapidly changing world, there has been a big demand for higher education. Many parents have realised that enabling their children to study abroard would give them a global exposure and experience.

Many people have the preception that studying abroad is expensive. Studying abroad is not necessary expensive and could be affordable depending on the choice of colleges and universities as well as location. For instance, living in Sydney would be about A$400 - A$500 more expensive than Perth, living in Tasmania is A$200 cheaper than Perth.

Studying at Australian TAFE schools for instance (which are Australian Vocational Schools), students could be paying as little as A$7,500 a year for tuition fees and universities like the University of Tasmania are offering 25% scholarships for all international students. Costs range from RM75,000 to RM80,000 per year including tuition fees and living expenses or even less if students opt for a Malaysian overseas university campus and transfer overseas later. For example, after completing as many semesters as they like (depending on their needs and budgets) at Curtin Sarawak, students can opt to transfer to Curtin Perth.

Studylink’s staff counselors are well-versed and trained and knowledgeable on today’s up-to-date global industrial needs to counsel students on pathways which would offer better job opportunities locally or abroad.  Studylink represents a number of well-known colleges and universities both locally and abroad which offer courses which range from academic programs to vocational courses such as the Cookery course with Singapore’s Hospitality School, At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy and TAFE WA, William Angliss Institute, amongst others .  Every year, At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy receives hundreds of government sponsored students from Singapore and is regarded as the best in the said industry in Singapore.

“We believe in developing and constantly improving ourselves first, in order to help the others.  We want to be as useful and as resourceful as we can be, to the parents and students.” stressed Mr. Tony Tan, the Managing Director of Studylink.

For students who are interested in gaining some working experience while studying, they are allowed to legally work not more than 20 hours with their student visa in Australia and UK. This would be good exposure for students who are looking for an international culture exchange, as well as earning extra pocket money during their studies abroad.  Most students find this challenging and fun at the same time, juggling between studies and work.  This exposes them to actual working environments and they learn to be independent and will build up their self-esteem and confidence.

A number of renowned institutions would be visiting Studylink office Nationawide to help students and their parents who would like to enquire further about studying options.

Call Studylink’s offices to make an appointment with colleges and universities that are coming for interview sessions at Studylink’s offices from 4^th January to 16^th January 2010. 

As an added bonus, students can explore various options of studying abroad by visiting Studylink’s booths at the STAR Education Fair which is happening on 9^th and 10^th January 2010 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.  Studylink’s partners schools, colleges and universities from UK, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia will also be present at the fair. Students, parents and educationists can obtain more information on studying abroad by visiting Studylink’s booths located at Hall 5.  Studylink has been invited again to be the guest speaker in 2010 on Options after SPM.  The talk will be presented by Mr. Jerry Tan, the General Manager, on 10^th January at 11.00am – 12.30pm. 

Studylink’s professional counsellors and staff members ensure that everything required is attended to and processed before students depart, and these include applications to institutions, enrolments as well as visa applications, flight arrangements, airport reception and pre-departure briefings and mostly our service is free of charge.

Kindly call Studylink at 03-5880 8080 (Subang Jaya), 04-228 2286 (Penang), 05-807 2273 (Taiping), 05-255 2811 (Ipoh) and 07-332 1700 (Johor Baru) or visit www.studylink.com.my for more details.