Gov’t offers scholarships, academic recognition to lure Southeast Asian talent

Macau plans to attract top Southeast Asian students with academic recognition and scholarships as part of a higher education push in the region.

According to Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) director Kong Chi Ming, the number of Malaysian students in Macau’s higher education institutions has been rising steadily, with the city’s internationalized learning environment – including English-medium teaching and overseas university collaborations – proving attractive to students from Malaysia, who also show strong interest in AI and tourism-related studies.

Macau’s universities can tap into the Malaysian market through their international edge, Kong was quoted as saying, revealing that local institutions have signed agreements with Malaysian education groups on academic recognition and exchanges. “Our universities will recognize their standardized grades,” he said, adding that scholarships for Belt and Road students would be introduced.

Notably, 80% of Malaysian students currently studying in Macau are enrolled at the University of Macau (UM). At the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), while one-third of the university’s students are international, the number from Southeast Asia remains small – possibly due to limited awareness of the institution.

Both universities have reportedly expressed ambitions to boost Malaysian enrollment, with the UM aiming to increase student numbers across undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs in the years ahead, while the USJ is targeting a 5% increase in its Malaysian student intake.

The UM reportedly said that the first phase of the Macau-Hengqin International Education (University) Town has commenced operations, with nearly 1,000 UM students and international faculty members already based there. With the future development of the second phase, the university said it would further expand opportunities for Macau’s higher education development.