The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) is the sixth autonomous university in Singapore. Established in 2017, SUSS focuses on applied degree programmes primarily in the social sciences. In 2017, SUSS received its inaugural class of 2,137 graduates
SUSS academia is organised into five schools, Institute for Adult Learning (IAL), College for Lifelong & Experiential Learning (CLEL) and four centres.
The Chancellor of the university is Stephen Lee Ching Yen. The President of the university is Cheong Hee Kiat. The Provost of the university is Tsui Kai Chong.
The university is located at 463 Clementi Road (Clementi, Singapore). SUSS also uses external premises to conduct lessons.
History[]
SIM University (2005–2017)[]
In 2005, SIM University (UniSIM) was a private university under the Singapore Institute of Management Group (SIM) was established by Cham Tao Soon who became the first Chancellor and Chairman of UniSIM.
In 11 November 2016, the SIM governing council voted in favour to bring the university under the ambit of the Ministry of Education.
UniSIM Certificates[]
In 2017, SUSS conducted an exercise to issue certificates in SUSS for UniSIM certificates. However, a statement will indicate that the qualifications had been received under the former's name
Singapore University of Social Sciences Bill[]
In 2017, Ong Ye Kung, then Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) moved a Bill (law) in Parliament to confer SUSS autonomous status. Firstly, this signals the Government's support for SUSS and assures the public of SUSS’ credibility and standing. Secondly, it allows the Government to lead SUSS towards meeting the national education objectives, economic and social development. Lastly, it allows the Government to allocate and monitor its financial performances.
SUSS Convocation 2017[]
In 2017, SUSS marked its inaugural graduation as an Autonomous University, with the first batch of SUSS graduates receiving degrees in the name of SUSS
SUSS Ministerial Forum 2019[]
In September 2019, SUSS organised its first ministerial forum where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was invited to share about the role of education and the future of Singapore
Restructuring Process[]
From 17 March 2017, SIM University was renamed as Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and brought under the ambit of Ministry of Education. The autonomous status was officially awarded by the Singapore government on 11 July 2017.
The university will restructure to retain a "limited offering" in business and engineering programmes while increasing its offerings in social science programmes. All programmes will have curricula considering the social impacts on the community and have to partake a compulsory module in social sciences. In 2019, SUSS enrolled most students in the areas of social sciences and social services.
From 1 April 2019, IAL was restructured into an autonomous institute within SUSS. They will work together in course design, development and teaching adult students. SUSS will have access to IAL's research findings on the learning needs of students, while IAL will be able to research using SUSS's student data and its adult student learning experience to train adult educators. The university will accredit and issue qualifications on tertiary programmes run by IAL
Programmes[]
In 2014, SUSS (under its former UniSIM name) started its full-time programmes that takes on the applied degree pathway with emphasis on practice-oriented teaching. All full-time degree programmes are direct honours degrees and may be completed in 4 to a maximum of 6 years. Programmes offer Professional Major and several Major-Minor combinations.
The Bachelor of Laws programme will take will take about 4.5 to 5 years and the Juris Doctor (JD) programme 4 years. Both are to be completed within 6 years.
Entrepreneurship[]
The Alibaba Cloud-SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme was launched in July 2017 where students either receive a Certificate or Minor in Entrepreneurship. This programme enables students to learn ideation, validation, building their Minimum Viable Product and pitching for funding. A series of Impact Startup Challenge were also curated where students travel to foreign countries as a 3 to 5 days entrepreneurship boot camp. SUSS students partners with foreign students to work together on their business idea and prototype. One of the team, Good for Food was featured by Channel News Asia for creating a smart AI dustbin which can help the Food & Beverage sector to track and reduce food waste.
Admission[]
The minimum education requirement is a GCE 'A' level, or Diplomas from the 5 local Polytechnic or 2 local Arts Institutions, or International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, or NUS High School Diploma. Applicants with good SAT1 scores may be considered for admission. Certain programmes may require additional admission requirements.
The part-time programmes require applicants to acquire two years of full-time work experience, completed full-time National Service for male applicants or be currently employed on a full-time basis and be at minimum 21 years old.
In 2018, SUSS received 5,700 applications for 700 full-time places. In 2016, 388 applicants competed for 60 places in the Law Programmes. Applicants into the part-time Accountancy programme will be assessed based on academic merit, relevant work experience and communication skills.
Accelerated Pathway Programme[]
SUSS offers local Polytechnic students who have achieved good academic results to enrol in the Accelerated Pathway Programme. Successful applicants should fulfill 20 credit units of courses from these undergraduate programmes while pursuing their Diploma courses. Upon completion of the Diploma courses and the minimum GPA score for the Accelerated Pathway programme, students will be granted credit recognition when enrolled with SUSS for their undergraduate studies.