The first thing an international student should consider immediately he or she is admitted into a Malaysian university should be the cost of living in Malaysia for international students.
To contribute to your academic journey, I have decided to draft out the living expenses in Malaysia for international students and the amount of monthly expenses that you should be expecting.
What about this country?
Malaysia is known for its beaches, rainforests and mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European cultural influences. This is one fun country to be and one of the most sought after country by international students.
With over 100 universities, both public and private, Malaysia has a well structured higher education system with multiple undergraduate and masters program offered at these universities.
The higher education sector takes responsibility for the operation of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Higher Education ( MOHE).
Malaysia has about 20 public universities, 33 private universities, 37 public community colleges and about six foreign branches. There are also higher education institutions from countries such as UK, US, Australia Canada, France etc.
Evaluating the Living Expenses in Malaysia for International Students 2022.
Now, it’s important to ask questions like;
- How much does it cost to live and study in Malaysia?
- How much do I really need if planning to study on Malaysia?
These are some of the questions asked by international students who wish to study in Malaysia.
Many international students usually choose to study in Malaysia due to its low cost of living. Surprised! Yes it is actually true. It is very affordable to live in Malaysia compared to other countries.
First, what do should someone really consider when talking about the cost of living?
There are certain important things that must not be omitted when discussing the cost of living in any particular geographical area.
Keep calm, as this article has been written to answer all your questions and clear any doubt you u have been having concerning studying and the cost of living in Malaysia. We shall considering the following;
- Cost of Tuition
- Cost of Accommodation
- Transportation Cost
- Cost of Feeding
- Phone and data bills
Cost of Health Insurance in Malaysia for International Students
The first thing to note when planning to go study travel is Malaysia should be your application fee. Apart from the usual application done in your country before travelling, there are other things to be done on your arrival in Malaysia.
As a new person in Malaysia, you will be required to get a health insurance and this will cost you about $2500 to $4000.
Cost of Tuition fee in Malaysia for International Students 2022
A chunk of your budget for studying in Malaysia usually goes to your tuition fee payment. Tuition varies between public and private universities.
In a public university, a bachelor’ s degree costs about $2000 to $5000 yearly and a masters degree costs about $500 to $4500 depending on the institution and program you choose.
Private universities in Malaysia are much more expensive than public universities. A bachelor’s degree in a private university in Malaysia costs about $2,000 to $10,000 per year while a master’ s degree costs $2,000 to $4,000 per year.
It is important to note that courses like medicine and engineering cost a lot, more than what you will pay for other courses.
Cost of Accommodation in Malaysia for International Students
The amount of money needed to get an accommodation in Malaysia as a student solely depends on the geographical zone you choose to live in.
Some students prefer to live in the school hostel, other would rather live off campus. Meanwhile, there are other residential areas such as an apartment, single or double storey building, a condominium, etc.
However, as an international student, your accomodation budget before flying out to study in Malaysia should be between 95$ to $200 per month.
Recommendation: to lessen your expenses, you can also choose to share an apartment with your colleague and split the rent, hence reducing accomodation cost.
Cost of Feeding in Malaysia for International Students 2022
Feeding can never be over emphasized because as a student, you have to eat always to stay strong, lively, and focus. A hungry man cannot study for long.
If you are one that is a foodie, then you might find yourself eating at every hour of the day and definitely you are gonna need to add this to your budget. Malaysian cuisines are not just known to be very sumptuous and tasty, but also very affordable.
For a breakfast meal in Malaysia, you will be needing about $2to $5. However, lunch and dinner will cost you about $10 to $15. Below are the costs of some food in Malaysia
- 1 litre of milk – $2
- Beef ( 0.15kg) – $1
- Chicken fillets (0.15kg) – $8
- Local cheese (0.10kg) – $1
Cost of Transportation and Bills in Malaysia for International Students
Transportation is also one of the factors to be consider when calculating how much you need to stay in Malaysia.
There are various transport services in Malaysia. Always remember that your transport fares depends on your location. To take a taxI in the city will cost you about $13 while you might just need to pay about $5 for a bus ride.
Are you a lover of metros? If yes, then do not forget to keep a budget of $12 for your metro rides.
Do you know that you do not need to purchase a ticket on your every ride in Malaysia, with your Touch and Go (TnG) card for about $80 to $100 you can go wherever you want, all you need to do is to top up when it runs out.
Coming to phone and data bills;
As an international student, you can’t afford to stay without a phone which you will easily use to communicate with your people. Students are definitely gonna use their phones, hence there are mobile bills to be settled.
Students need mobile subscription to reach out to their family members and their loved ones, not just that but they also need data subscriptions to carry out researches and projects.
Getting a mobile subscription will cost you between $5 to $50 monthly.
Summary
Apart from these important expenses, students are also gonna need money for personal expenses such as books, nightlife, clothes etc. Therefore as an international student, you should have a budget of $500 to $1000 for these expenses.
When making a total calculation of all these budgets, it can be seen that it is quite affordable to study in Malaysia compared to other countries.
If money seems to be a hindrance, then not to worry as there are scholarships available for international students provided by the Malaysian government.
Therefore go grab that application form and start your journey to studying in Malaysia. Wish you success!