New NUS Lifelong Learners programme for students and alumni

•    Student enrolment valid for 20 years from point of undergraduate admission
•    Alumni are automatically eligible for new lifelong learning programme

The National University of Singapore (NUS) introduced a new lifelong learning initiative, the NUS Lifelong Learners (NUS L³) programme, to address the lifelong learning needs of its student and alumni communities. The move is intended to ensure that NUS graduates have ready access to skills-based, industry-relevant courses necessary for upskilling or reskilling, to remain competitive in the job market, and to enable them to make a greater impact on the future economy.

As part of the NUS L³ programme, the University, which has about 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students, is making its student enrolment valid for 20 years, from the point of undergraduate admission. The aim is to make lifelong learning seamless for NUS students. This would mean that all current and future students would be automatically eligible for NUS’ publicly available Continuing Education and Training (CET) courses upon graduation.

All of NUS’ 288,600 alumni will also be automatically eligible for publicly available CET courses under NUS L³. They may also stack up selected courses into qualifications such as Graduate Diplomas, or even Bachelor’s or Master’s Degrees.

The new NUS L³ programme was announced by Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills), at the Ministry’s Committee of Supply Debate in Parliament earlier today.

Industry-relevant Courses

NUS L³ will offer a comprehensive, curated catalogue of skills-based, industry-relevant courses that cater to the lifelong learning needs of alumni. The courses will be in selected Industry Transformation Map clusters, such as manufacturing, modern services and essential domestic services, and will match the eight priority and emerging skills areas identified under the SkillsFuture Series: Data Analytics, Finance, Tech-Enabled Services, Digital Media, Cybersecurity, Entrepreneurship, Urban Solutions, and Advanced Manufacturing.

Additional NUS CET courses, beyond the publicly available courses under the SkillsFuture Series, will be offered under NUS L³. They will include courses currently offered to NUS students, as well as those designed specifically for adult learners.

Course content will be largely delivered through blended-learning pedagogies, which combine traditional teacher-led classroom instruction with independent student learning outside the classroom using online materials.

NUS L³ will be offered by the NUS School of Continuing and Lifelong Education (SCALE) in collaboration with the University’s Faculties and Schools. NUS L³ courses will be launched in phases, with the initial suite of courses to begin in August 2018. The first edition of the full NUS CET catalogue will offer about 500 courses.

Applications for NUS L³ courses through SCALE will open on 1 July 2018.

Professor Ho Teck Hua, NUS Senior Deputy President and Provost, said: “At NUS, we see lifelong learning as the key to ensuring that our students and alumni stay updated on the developments and disruptions that globalisation and digital technologies are bringing to the workplace. We are therefore very happy to commit to a 20-year enrolment for our highly talented students.

“This is part of our new NUS L³ programme, which will enable our alumni to acquire new skills and knowledge to better prepare them for their current jobs, new responsibilities, or alternative careers. NUS L³ is a bold initiative, the first of its kind in Singapore. It represents our strong commitment to our students and alumni, as well as our ambition to be their anchor for lifelong learning.”

NUS L³ substantially expands the existing Lifelong Learning Initiative for NUS Alumni (LLINA).

Announced in May 2017, the LLINA pilot initiative has received very positive response from NUS alumni. The University received more than 8,000 applications for the first batch of 404 places in 79 courses that started in August 2017. In the semester beginning January 2018, about 1,200 NUS alumni were enrolled in 88 courses offered under the LLINA initiative. Alumni currently enrolled in the LLINA initiative, which ends in July 2020, may choose to continue with CET courses under NUS L³.

Virtual Vouchers

To encourage alumni who are new to lifelong learning at NUS, virtual vouchers will be offered by the University to offset the cost of one NUS CET course of their choosing.

Alumni who wish to pursue a certification may then go on to take an additional 4 to 13 skills-based courses. Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents taking these skills-based courses will also receive 70% course fee subsidy under the SkillsFuture framework.

Those who would like to further pursue a Graduate Diploma, second Bachelor’s Degree or a Master’s Degree at NUS will be required to take additional courses.

For more information on NUS L³, please visit http://scale.nus.edu.sg/AlumniLifeLongLearning/index.html.