KUALA LUMPUR: The Rating System for Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (Setara) will be extended to private higher education institutions by next year.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said this would provide an overview of where public and private universities rank in the national education system.
“This will provide the baseline data from which these institutions will seek to improve and ensure the continuous drive towards excellence is achieved in our national higher education framework,” he said at a ceremony to unveil UCSI University, formerly known as University College Sedaya International, last night.
Bold symbol: Mohamed Khaled (centre) launching UCSI University’s coat of arms Thursday night. Looking on are Ng (right) and chancellor Tan Sri Dr Abdul Rahman Arshad.
Mohamed Khaled said the first step towards achieving a competitive drive in the higher education system was to enable universities, both private and public, to be reviewed and evaluated as equal counterparts.
On awarding university status to UCSI, Mohamed Khaled said this was because it had fulfilled the criteria.
“These include qualified teaching staff, meeting the prescribed number of academic staff with PhD and masters’ research capabilities, good governance, availability of excellent teaching and learning facilities and good student accommodation,” he said.
“This is indeed a milestone achievement for UCSI and a well-deserved symbol of excellence after 22 years of dedication in the field of higher education,” he said.
UCSI University group president and vice-chancellor Peter Ng said he was proud that the university had transformed from
a computer training centre with just two computers to four campuses in four states in over 20 years.
“We will soon offer hospitality and tourism courses at our Sarawak campus and petroleum and gas courses at our Terengganu campus,” he said.
The eventual objective was to create niche specialisations at its branch campuses, he said, adding that it would soon offer doctorate programmes.

I was surprised when i read that in newspaper. UCSI was just a
It's really no wonder they can expand so fast, look at all the money they suck from us!!