Which Part-Time Engineering Courses in Singapore Should You Choose?

The Auston Institute of Management has delivered thousands of engineering degrees to qualified graduates for more than 15 years.

Our experience in this journey leaves us with an expert edge that allows us to recommend the top 3 types of engineering courses to study for in Singapore, along with the pros and cons of each.

 

Engineering degree programmes

 Why Study For an Engineering Degree

Firstly, the long-term benefits of an engineering degree are apparent. There are many career opportunities for those who wish to work in the engineering industries in Singapore.

Why?

Generally speaking, Singapore locals just don’t want to do engineering work! That’s because there is a stigma in Singapore that associates engineers as a ‘low class’ skill, especially compared to the preferred higher education programmes like finance, medicine and law.

Furthermore, there is also the assumption that engineering courses are for those with ‘bad’ qualifications.

For example, if you have the opportunity to study at one of the national universities in Singapore, AAA students go to Law, Medicine, and Accountancy. The Holy Grail degree programmes.

Meanwhile, students with BBB or BBC settle for engineering diploma courses or an engineering bachelor’s degree.

We bet all those painful discussions during Chinese New Year after your O-Levels or A-Levels are still fresh in your mind. The well-meant advice of all your aunties and uncles telling you what to do for your future leaves you with more questions than answers.

BUT DO NOT DESPAIR!

The fact that engineering degree programmes still interest you means you are considering this profession.

Here’s the good news, given to you straight.

Benefits of Engineering Degree Programmes

Let’s begin from the stage of pursuing an engineering degree programme for your higher education.

As the curriculum progresses, you will find a positive effect on your critical thinking skills.

This, along with the knowledge from your modules, will equip you with an amazing insight into problem-solving in both a learning environment and the workplace.

Furthermore, engineering allows you to create solutions with real-life impact.

With an engineering degree, you’ll have a wide variety of career progressions to choose from. You’ll get to work with some of the top employers in the world like United Technologies, Micron, Seagate and more!

These institutions hold impressive portfolios in computer science, system solutions, aircraft engines and even in daily objects like lifts and escalators.

Just think about it – you’ll have the potential to create something revolutionary for the economy, or even the world!

As part of your job, you’ll get to work with a variety of cutting-edge technologies like 5G, 6G, data, robotics, mechatronics and more.

part time engineering degree programme

If you’re worried about entry requirements, put your heart at ease!

The engineering field, and Auston’s academic programmes, have an extensive menu that caters to nearly all students with a dream of learning to engineer.

Not to forget, in these difficult times with an extensive shortage of technical workers, we will be grateful for every interested party!

Types of Part-Time Engineering Courses in Singapore

National Universities

University Hall, National University of Singapore

With annual funding that runs into the tens of millions of Singapore dollars, our national universities like NUS, NTU, SUTD, SMU have the best facilities for learning. They also have a wide variety of course programmes from electrical and electronic engineering to civil engineering.

While the variety is there, not everyone can get in. Only the highest qualification can enter these degree programmes.

Furthermore, if you intend to study part-time, national university programmes can take a solid 2-4 years to complete. That’s a bummer – not all of us can afford to drop off other responsibilities in pursuit of education, even if it’s our aspiration.

On the other hand, many assume that all degrees from national universities will be recognized by professional engineering bodies like the Professional Engineers Board (PEB) and Institute of Engineers Singapore (IES). After all, they are prestigious universities, right?

Don’t assume – if you read through the recognition chapters of the IES and PEB, only full-time graduates from Singapore national universities are recognized.

That means: Part-time students with a B-Tech qualification are not recognised.

Read that again.

This information will save you 3 years, $30,000, and a lot of disappointment.

So, where does that leave students who want to study part-time?

Before you write off private institutes, hear us out…

Private Institutes

private education

Private institutes like Auston typically offer you a faster, cheaper route to getting an engineering degree.

According to Singapore’s Education Act, private education institutes cannot award their own degrees. Therefore, we ‘borrow’ the ability to award degrees from universities abroad.

The most common partners are from the UK (like Auston’s partner #21 UK University, the University of the West of England) and Australia. Other examples are those like Sunderland, Bradford, Nottingham, and South Australia.

A private institute is likely to take just 2 years or less (compared to 4-5 years at a national university), with fees ranging from S$20,000 to S$30,000 (national universities charge $10,000 per year).

With a private engineering programme, the stigma runs even deeper.

Many believe that a private degree is not recognised by authoritative and regulatory engineering bodies, resulting in lousier careers than national university students.

While many people believe that private degrees are not really recognized and will result in lousier careers than national university graduates, let’s face the facts here:

  1. Most people can’t get into a national university due to its competitive nature.
  2. Even if engineering careers prioritise national university students, the industry demand is in the thousands. The number of students who graduate from national universities is only in the hundreds each year.
  3. Lastly, not everyone needs to be (or can be) a PEB/ IES-endorsed engineer. Some people do the designing, others do quality assurance and some people do on-site work. That doesn’t mean your knowledge and skills aren’t valuable.

And for the record – Auston part-time degree programme graduates typically earn salaries in the range of national university students, sometimes, even more!

Regardless of the learning environment you picked to study for your Bachelor’s degree, the truth is that your degree qualification can only get you so far. For the greatest potential to progress in the industry, you need to have an appropriate attitude and willingness to tackle difficult situations and challenging projects.

Entry requirements for private institutes tend to be a lot more flexible, with numerous entry points regardless of your prior qualification.

Some of Auston’s courses are:

  • Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (Mechatronics)
  • Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (Manufacturing)

Professional Courses

professional level engineering programme

Professional courses are courses offered by engineering bodies like the Building and Construction Authority in Singapore or the Institute of Engineers Singapore.

The duration of these courses ranges from a few days to a week. The curriculum for these programmes will cover fairly deep topics that

  • discuss the latest discourse in the industry
  • provide knowledge and skills-building in specialised areas where more talent is needed

These courses are great for people who are already in the industry. In fact, if you study these courses, it may lead to your eventual professional certification at some level!

However, a professional programme diploma is not a replacement for a Bachelor’s degree.

How to Pick Part-Time Degree Programmes

Photo of a Man Wearing Academic Dress

Beyond the broad types of engineering that you’re used to, there is an increasing number of specialised subfields that are popping up on the menu!

Traditionally, there are a few broader degrees, such as

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Computer Engineering / Computer Science

Newer specific fields of engineering in the current economy include:

  • Micro-Electronics
  • Telecommunications
  • Building Services Engineering
  • Robotics
  • Data Engineering
  • Aeronautical / Aerospace

So which type of modules should you consider for your part-time programme?

To answer your question: We recommend beginning with a course in the traditional fields.

Our reasoning is that it’s better to have a solid foundation of knowledge that can be applied to as many specialisations as possible. However, if you pick a specialisation first, you will find that it’s difficult to pursue a different subfield later on.

The Bottom Line

Looking for information about part-time engineering degrees can be confusing. There’s a lot of sources out there and engineering itself is a very broad, complex term.

Our recommendation to opt for a part-time, private degree is perfect for the vast majority of people who want to pursue engineering.

However, do note that certain fields, like Petroleum Engineering, requires accreditation and honours from a national university in Singapore.

So What Should I Do Now?

We recommend that you start looking for degree programmes and hopefully, you choose us.

Many people ask where do I start.  

Everyone starts in different place. Your past qualifications and work experience is critical in determining where you go and start. If you’d like to speak to a consultant about joining, please complete the form below and we can get back to you about fees, duration and more.

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