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Top Arts Institution in Singapore

LASALLE College of the Arts

LASALLE College of the arts founded in 1984, It is a non-profit private educational institution funded by the Singapore Ministry of Education and the only pure arts institution in Singapore that awards a master’s degree in art.

In 2015, Lasalle College of the Arts had become one of the two institutions get the Singapore Education Trust Certification Star Rating. This award is the highest level of award in the non-public university sector to the institutions who are managing their institutions and providing an outstanding quality of education and welfare for their students.

LASALLE offers more than 30 contemporary arts and design education programmes through its eight art and design schools. Programmes are including diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The eight art and design schools are:

  • McNally School of Fine Arts
  • Puttnam School of Film & Animation
  • School of Creative Industries
  • School of Design Communication
  • School of Fashion
  • School Of Spatial And Product Design
  • School of Contemporary Music
  • School of Dance & Theatre

Student needs to spend three years full-time to complete a diploma programme in Lasalle. Most of the diploma programmes are industry-based learning that requires students involved in either a live industry-related project or in an industry placement.

Lasalle’s three years of full-time degree programmes are straight to BA(Hons). The master degree programmes will take 1.5 – 2 years full-time to complete, most of them are also available for part-time studies, which requires three years to complete.

Depending on a student’s residential status, the tuition fees are also different. Below is the breakdown of tuition fee per year for different residential status student:

Lasalle Tuition Fee Per Year

Student Residential StatusDiplomaUndergraudatePostgraduate
Singapore Citizens (Subsidised)5,2809,729N.A
Singapore Citizens (Non-Subsidised)19,00019,00030,000 - 40,000
Singapore Permanent Residents (Subsidised)6,93013,794N.A
Singapore Permanent Residents (Non-Subsidised)21,15021,15030,000 - 40,000
International Students (Subsidised)9,780N.AN.A
International Students (Non-Subsidised)23,80023,80033,000 - 44,000
All fees listed are in Singapore Dollars inclusive of local tax (GST) and apply for the 2019 academic year

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA)

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts was established in 1938, it is a private institution provides post-secondary education in arts. NAFA is the first arts institution in Singapore, it offers various diplomas and bachelor programs in fine arts.

Even though NAFA is a private institution in Singapore, but it offers publicly-funded diploma programmes. Besides, the institution also receives government funding for select degree programmes offered in partnership with reputable universities in the United Kingdom.

NAFA provides comprehensive arts and design diplomas and degree programmes through its three academic schools:

  • School of Art and Design (Fine Art, Design & Media, Fashion Studies and 3D Design)
  • School of Music
  • School of Arts Management, Dance and Theatre.

NAFA’s diploma programmes take three years (full-time) to complete. There is a compulsory internship in the third year. Students can get the relevant industry work experience and also use this opportunity to tale to the people in the art industry.

All degree programmes offered by NAFA are the one-year full-time top-up course for diploma graduates (Except Bachelor of Music (Hons) is a two-year full-time top-up course). Most of the programmes are offering an opportunity to spend at least 2-3 weeks at the partner universities in the UK. Students can expand their learning experience through mass lectures, collaborative projects, discussions and critiques with staff and students from the partner University.

Below table is the breakdown of NAFA programmes fee per year:

NAFA Tuition Fees Per Year

ProgrammesSingapore Citizens (Subsidised)Singapore Permanent Residents (Subsidised)International Students (Subsidised)Non-Subsidised Students
Diploma4,600 - 7,6507,150 - 9,5009,900 - 10,40019,200 - 20,200
Bachelor Degree [except Bachelor of Music (Hons)]20,800 - 22,500
Bachelor of Music (Hons)10,17014,25032,300
All fees listed are in Singapore Dollars inclusive of local tax (GST) and apply for the 2019 academic year
NAFA vs Lasalle, What is the main difference for the programmes offered by them?

For diploma programmes, NAFA’s diplomas have a compulsory internship in the third year, but only selected Lasalle’s diplomas requires student involved in an industry placement or a live industry-related project.
For degree programmes, NAFA only offers one-year top-up degree programmes (except Bachelor of Music is a two-year top-up degree programme), but Lasalle offers three years degree programmes straight to BA(Hons).