SINGAPORE — A student-led survey looking into accommodation charges at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has been circulating on Instagram over the past week, after the university announced earlier in the year that it would be raising its hostel fees by up to 36 per cent.

The Google Forms survey was created on Wednesday (May 29) by a student group that calls itself the "Somapah Hostelites Movement". 

The group said that it aims to “work towards fairer housing policies in SUTD, from housing fees to better housing allocation schemes that take into account extenuating circumstances”.

SUTD announced on Feb 14 that it would be increasing its hostel fees. It held a dialogue with its students that month to address their concerns.

The change, which will take effect from Sept 15, will see hostel fees go up by between 9.2 per cent and 36.3 per cent.

Based on calculations done by the students, those staying in single-bed rooms will be paying about S$608 a month compared to the current fee of about S$447. 

For double-bed rooms, the fees will rise from about S$363 to S$396.

In an Instagram post published on May 25, Somapah Hostelites Movement said that this “sharp increase (in hostel fees) came as a massive shock” to the residents of the university’s hostel.

The student group added that housing representatives from the university had attributed the higher fees to factors such as the rising costs of utilities, maintenance costs and the upgrading of hostel facilities.

However, the group questioned if it was “reasonable” for the university to impose such a “sharp” rise in fees “all at once”.

It also called on students from SUTD who are past, present or prospective residents of the university’s hostel to submit their feedback on the online form that it had created, and to give their take on what “fair hostel policy” should look like.

Five students who spoke to TODAY said that they were still unhappy with the fee increase after February's dialogue with the university, because it failed to answer their questions.

A 24-year-old second-year student, who wanted to be known as just LC and is one of the students with Somapah Hostelites Movement, said that the dialogue was an informal question-and-answer session and among the attendees, they had indicated that they preferred a gradual increase.

“Personally, my main takeaway was that the university's administration wanted the hostel to cut its losses as soon as possible.”

WHAT SUTD SAYS

Responding to TODAY’s queries, Ms Tammy Tan, chief communications officer at SUTD, said that this is the first time in the university’s 15-year history that it is raising its hostel fees.

“It was not an easy decision but it was necessary given rising inflation and cost of operations.”

Ms Tan added that the “bulk” of the university’s undergraduates, who live in double-bed rooms, will see a 9 per cent increase in their hostel fees, while those living in single-bed rooms will see a 36 per cent increase in hostel prices.

The freshmores, meaning the university’s first-year students, for whom it is compulsory to spend their first two terms staying on campus, they will be given a 10 per cent discount.

“In our communications with our student population in February, we also shared that anyone who needed financial assistance could reach out to us.

“So far, a very small number of hostelites, representing about 3 per cent of the total number of undergrads in the dormitory, have contacted us,” Ms Tan disclosed.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY 

On the scheme for the freshmores, the students who spoke to TODAY criticised it, saying that not all freshmores use their rooms and there have been some who have left the rooms empty, meaning they do not stay on campus as required.

There is also the view that reserving rooms for freshmores means that there are insufficient rooms left for international students. 

A second-year international student, 28, who did not want to be named, said that he had been rejected from the hostel twice and had to live in off-campus housing, which is costly to him. He hopes that the university will allocate more rooms for international students. 

LC from the student group said that the goal is to get SUTD to put in place a gradual fee hike similar to other Singapore universities.

“We also hope that there will be housing-specific financial aid schemes with clear eligibility criteria and quanta. Low-income students should receive waivers for application fees and acceptance fees,” he added.

The group is now working to gather more responses before sending a petition to the school. 

Two other students, who spoke to TODAY on June 4, had different views on the fee hike.

A fourth-year student, 21, who did not want to be named, said that she felt it was acceptable because it was more affordable compared to off-campus housing.

Third-year student Siew CN, 22, said that the new fees were reasonable and on par with the other universities in Singapore.