International Students Left Stranded as NTU Imposed Quota for On-Campus Housing Due to COVID-19

Imagine being excited to start your university life overseas, in one of the top universities of the country.

You’ve already applied to on-campus housing, and you might be wondering: what will my roommate be like? Will hall life be fun? What activities do they have? 

The possibility that you might fail to secure campus accommodation, because what university would leave their international students stranded, right?

Wrong.

The next thing you know, being homeless is suddenly a very real danger.

I know, it sounds terrifying.

Unfortunately, that’s the exact predicament that many international students from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are in currently.

International Students Scramble to Find Alternative Accommodation After Unsuccessful Hall Application 

On Thursday (1 July), NTU released the results for the application for campus accommodation.

Within a few hours, news broke out that many students—both Singaporean and international students—had been unsuccessful in their applications.

Rejection letters sent out to applicants explained that the university had to reduce the number of rooms available—and thus the number of students who can stay on campus—due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, there is a cap on the number of students staying in the halls imposed by the authorities, and fewer rooms are available because of the need to reserve a certain number for Covid-19 isolation and other related purposes,” the email sent out to applicants wrote.

The letter also told applicants who were still staying on campus to vacate their rooms by 15 July, giving them two weeks’ notice to find alternative housing options.

Those who remain on campus even after the 15 July deadline would be charged for overstaying, and belongings removed, the letter told applicants. This was so that the university can prepare for incoming residents.

As expected, this has left many international students at NTU scrambling to find other alternative accommodation options.

In rejection letters sent out, the university advised those who did not have a place of residence in Singapore to find alternative accommodation themselves.

Well, duh, what other choice do they have?

The university also provided the contacts of a few other off-campus housing options, such as student hostels Westwood Hostel and EM Real Estate. In another option, students were also directed to find accommodation in hotels or hostels through booking platforms like Agoda and Trivago.

NTU to Review Hall Resident Quota Again

Reporters from TODAY have approached NTU, enquiring about the details on the limit placed on hall residents, the rationale behind these limits, and how it plans on supporting students who have been affected—in particular, the international students.

In response to queries from the media, the university explained that as part of safe management measures, it had to review the number of hall places offered in the upcoming academic year.

This was further affected by the surge in demand for hall places this year, resulting in a shortage of hall places.

“As part of safe management measures, NTU has had to review the number of hall places offered for the upcoming academic year. It is also noted that this year has seen exceptionally strong demand for hall places,” an NTU spokesperson said.

“However, with vaccinations now well underway and a good vaccination rate expected, as well as other safe management measures that we intend to apply, we are currently reviewing the capacity to allow more students to stay on campus,” they added.

According to NTU, more updates will be given in the following days.

International Students in Difficult Position

Eight rejected applicants, four of whom were international students while the other four were Singaporean, were interviewed by TODAY. 

The international students expressed their displeasure at having to vacate on short notice, as well as their worry about finding an alternative accommodation before the deadline to vacate.

NTU undergraduate Ms Pei Chenge, a fourth-year in the university’s public policy and global affairs programme, said that she had not expected the last-minute notice from the university.

The 25-year-old Chinese national added that she had diligently taken part in campus activities to fulfil the eligibility requirements for housing.

She is referring to NTU’s campus housing policy, where students in their third and fourth years of study will have to take part in co-curricular activities on campus in order to increase their chances of securing housing in the following year.

Under this policy, incoming freshmen are also guaranteed a place in the hall for their first two years of study.

According to Ms Pei, she dedicates at least 11 hours of her week to participating in various co-curricular activities. However, she was still rejected in her application.

Ms Pei explained that the large number of students who had their housing applications rejected by NTU, along with the short notice period, will mean that the demand for rental rooms around NTU will be “crazy high”.

“It is a worrying but realistic concern that some people will not get a place to stay,” she added.

20-year-old Vietnamese student Ms Nora Lee also pointed out that living off-campus will be a financial burden for international students who are unable to afford rooms.

Ms Lee, a third-year undergraduate majoring in linguistics and multilingual studies, said on Thursday that the cheapest room she had found so far on was S$375, excluding utilities. She compared this to her S$265 monthly rent in NTU, which was much lower and yet included utilities.

According to Ms Lee, she has been funding her accommodation through part-time work. She worries that she will not be able to afford rent if she has to leave the campus hostel.

Even worse, for international students such as Ms Lee, returning to their home country might not be an option. In Ms Lee’s case, returning to Vietnam is not an option because the country has suspended flights due to the worsening COVID-19 situation there.

Ms Lee also questioned NTU’s rationale for its limit on the number of hall residents.

“Last year, NTU also reserved some places in the hall for COVID-19 isolation but they did not exclude or kick us out. So why do so now when the (COVID-19) situation is getting better and (some of us) are vaccinated?” she pointed out.

Ms Lee also said that international students should receive priority to stay on campus instead as they might not be able to find a new residence on such short notice.

Such sentiments were also echoed by other NTU students.

Petition for Review on Quota

Since the news of rejected applicants broke out, a petition on Change.org was started on Thursday.

The petition, which called for NTU to reconsider the applications of students, gathered more than 4,000 signatures by midnight. As of the time in which this article was written, the petition now has over 5,484 signatures.

The NTU Students’ Union, who have been working with the university’s management to clarify the issue, updated on their Instagram that the university will be reaching out to international students who are currently staying on campus to address their concerns in the next two days.

Allegedly, international students currently residing on the campus do not have to vacate by 15 July. This has yet to be confirmed by NTU when speaking to TODAY.

Living Off-Campus Not Ideal to Studies

Many rejected Singaporean applicants also pointed out that for students whose household environment was not conducive for studies, or for students who have to travel long distances, living off-campus is far from ideal.

Third-year double degree student Jerome Lee, who studies biomedical science and Traditional Chinese Medicine, was unhappy that many students who had tried to secure a place in hostels by taking part in campus activities had their applications rejected.

For Mr Lee, who can take up to three hours travelling from his home in Pasir Ris to NTU, staying on campus was his preferred housing option. This was especially due to his intensive curriculum and high level of commitment to school activities.

He further pointed out that the university had charged S$16.50 for housing application fees, and yet had not informed applicants that there would be a limited quota this year.

Featured Image: valeriy eydlin/ shutterstock.com