Frequently Asked Questions

Most Core Curricula around the world specify distributional requirements across different faculties or Schools. SMU created our Core Curriculum differently by conceiving of the student as an adept future participant and contributor in the workplace (Capabilities), a member of a number of overlapping communities (Communities), and a global citizen with interests in and duties to our common humanity (Civilisations), and then offering courses and asking our students to cultivate themselves along these three pillars of development.

At the end of four years, students will be able to demonstrate fundamental disciplinary competencies that they can flexibly deploy across domains and contexts; exercise an integrative intelligence to traverse and reconcile disciplinary, perspectival, and socio-cultural differences with agility and sensitivity; master and apply a range of techniques of inquiry and analysis to diagnose and solve problems across domains and contexts; identify normative and ethical considerations that apply to the activities of the workplace and society, and articulate a personal conception of global citizenship that recognises the cultural and perspectival diversity in the world.

For more information, please view the learning outcomes of the SMU Core Curriculum here.

Definitely! While the SMU Core Curriculum allows for students’ self-directed learning and affords choice and flexibility to students, a key consideration in its design is to also create opportunities for students from different disciplinary backgrounds to have common classes, so as to enable cross-disciplinary collaboration and learning from one another’s unique disciplinary perspectives.

Writing and Reasoning, Economics and Society, Big Questions, Ethics and Social/Corporate Responsibility are single-course baskets, so these CUs are compulsory. The other baskets, including Managing, Modes of Thinking, Numeracy (from the Capabilities pillar); Cultures of the Modern World and Technology and Society (from the Communities pillar) offer choices within the baskets.

Students need to fulfil 12 CUs for the Core Curriculum. Of these, students may receive exemptions for the Numeracy (1 CU) and Writing and Reasoning (1 CU) requirements, subject to satisfaction of the exemption criteria. The other components of the Core Curriculum are not exemptible. However, depending on their pre-university academic qualifications, students may qualify for exemptions in other curricular components, such as Major Requirements (including Major Core and Major Electives) and Free Electives.

Students reading the Law, Computing and Law, or Computer Science degree programmes are not required to take the full 12 CUs Core Curriculum but will take a reduced Core Curriculum of 6 CUs, not double counted towards the major, comprising at least 1 CU per pillar. Please refer to your respective programme websites for more information.

For more information on exemptions, please refer to this website: https://admissions.smu.edu.sg/faqs/exemptions

After identifying a preferred course, students should look at its learning outcomes, and consider in the first and typical instance if these learning outcomes are similar to those of any course that is offered in the Core Curriculum; or, in the second and unusual instance, if they are closely aligned with the relevant Basket Learning Outcomes as shown in the table below. This table provides information aimed at guiding students to select the appropriate basket where the proposed ISEP/SUSEP course may fit. The decision on whether a proposed course will earn transfer credit will be taken by Dean, College of Integrative Studies, on the recommendation of the Basket Coordinators. Please note that Big Questions, Economics and Society, and Writing and Reasoning, and Ethics and Social Responsibility for Law students must be taken at SMU.

Singapore Studies and Asia Studies provide students with an enhanced understanding of contemporary issues and challenges facing Singapore and Asian countries and/or cultures. Singapore Studies and Asia Studies requirements can be fulfilled by taking courses offered in the Core Curriculum and in the Schools. Multiple-counting for these graduation requirements is allowed: students are allowed to use the same course—where suitable—to fulfil the Singapore Studies and Asia Studies requirements simultaneously.

Core Curriculum courses offered at PSR for students who reside there are taught with a smaller class size of 30 students or below to enhance the interactive nature of the learning experience. Some courses will also speak directly to community service themes and activities specially curated for PSR residents.

For more enquiries, please reach out to corecurriculum@smu.edu.sg

While the existing Community Service programme provides a unique experiential learning opportunity for students to undergo development in personal mastery, global citizenry, collaboration and project management skills, the enhanced credit-bearing Community Service programme is more comprehensive and incorporates a more deliberate structure to help students better understand and apply their learning to provide more impactful and sustainable service to the community.

The enhanced, credit-bearing version of Community Service applies only to students matriculated from AY2019-20 onwards. As the curriculum structure of the SMU degree programmes undergoes changes with the introduction of new curricular features, existing students are unable to earn credit from Community Service that they already completed.

Yes. Per existing policies, students who do not meet the minimum standards for the various assessment components or/and fail to submit stipulated project requirements may be awarded a fail grade. Community Service will continue to be a graduation requirement and students must pass the programme in order to graduate.

SMU will not collect additional fees from students for Community Service conducted during non-regular terms.

Some of the requirements are similar for participation in local and overseas projects. For example, all students will have to complete 3 online modules and pass a series of assessments prior to commencement of the actual Community Service. Students would also need to submit a proposal detailing their learning objectives through the Community Service experience.

There are also specific requirements for overseas projects. Details on these requirements and other procedures for community service can be found on the online modules that all students have to take before embarking on their community service projects, as part of the enhanced credit-bearing Community Service programme.

Students who have been granted LOA and complete their Community Service requirements satisfactorily during this period of absence may count their Community Service towards credit.

Do note that approval must be obtained from the Centre for Social Responsibility (C4SR) before you embark on any Community Service project, so as to ensure you meet the graduation requirements. The guidelines and procedures for Community Service will be available online as part of the enhanced credit-bearing Community Service programme.

The enhanced credit-bearing Community Service programme involves not only the actual service, but also the pre- and post-activity learning. For example, students would need to complete 3 online modules and pass a series of assessments prior to commencement of the actual Community Service. Students would also need to submit a proposal detailing their learning objectives through the Community Service experience.

Further guidelines and procedures for Community Service can be found on the online modules that all students have to take before embarking on their community service projects, as part of the enhanced credit-bearing Community Service programme. The co-ordinators at Centre for Social Responsibility (C4SR) would also be able to provide more information and guide students through this process.

The Centre for Social Responsibility regularly seeks volunteering opportunities for SMU students. Students may refer to the emailers posted by the Centre on volunteering opportunities and to join projects organised by other SMU students. In addition, partner non-profit organisations in Singapore also periodically post their volunteering opportunities on ONTRAC II as well. Students may also consider self-proposing if they are already volunteering in their personal capacity, or have found a social cause or a volunteering opportunity that they are keen to join.

For more enquiries, please reach out to commsvcs@smu.edu.sg.

While the existing Internship programme prepares our graduates well in terms of developing their career skills, as evidenced by SMU’s strong performance in the annual Joint Autonomous University Graduate Employment Survey, the enhanced credit-bearing Internship programme is more comprehensive and incorporates a more deliberate structure to help students better understand and apply their learning.

The enhanced, credit-bearing version of Internship applies only to students matriculated from AY2019-20 onwards. As the curriculum structure of the SMU degree programmes undergoes changes with the introduction of new curricular features, existing students are unable to earn credit from Internship that they had already completed.

Yes. Per existing policies, students who do not meet the minimum standards for the various assessment components or/and fail to submit stipulated requirements may be awarded a fail grade. Internship will continue to be a graduation requirement and students must pass the programme in order to graduate.

SMU will not collect additional fees from students for internships undertaken during non-regular terms.

Students who have been granted LOA and complete their Internship requirements satisfactorily during this period of absence may count their Internship towards credit.

The Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre’s team of development officers works with several employers to source as many internship opportunities across multiple industries as possible for SMU students to apply to and secure an internship opportunities within industries of students’ choice. When eligible for internships, students may access these opportunities through the portal ONTRAC II and apply for the roles of their choosing. Students may also self-propose their own internships should they find those advertised on ONTRAC II not aligned with their career interests.

Every undergraduate student is assigned a Career Coach at the Dato’ Kho Hui Meng Career Centre for their entire duration of study at SMU. This coach will work with the student on aligning their interests, skills and aspirations with their future career choices. Students may request for appointments with their Career Coach through the portal ONTRAC II periodically during their course of study at SMU to plan and prepare for their internships and full time jobs upon graduation. The Career Coaches would help students with understanding their personality and their fit to jobs better, resume and cover letter writing, interview skills and can share relevant industry information to help students make informed career decisions.

For more enquiries, please reach out to placement@smu.edu.sg

Internships are awarded one academic credit based on a “Pass/Fail” when graded. This grading does not contribute towards the student’s GPA. The student is expected to periodically submit Reflections Reports online throughout the duration of the internship. This helps to ensure that the internship experiences align with their expected learning outcomes.

At the end of the student’s internship, DKHMCC will formally request an online Performance Appraisal from his/her assigned supervisor at the company who mentors the student throughout the internship. For a “Pass” grade that indicates the student’s completion of the mandatory Internship requirement, the student must receive an “average” or above (Good/ Excellent) rating from the supervisor and must have completed all the reflections reports for the approved internship. DKHMCC shall review the documents submitted and then proceed with grading if everything is in order.

No, like Asia and Singapore Studies (but unlike internship and community service) global exposure is not credit-bearing, but is still a requirement for graduation.

Global traction and understanding underpins success in careers in today’s globally connected environment. To have global exposure from the vantage of a university education is invaluable for international networking and global vision; it also open doors to bigger opportunities.

When students approach their global exposure opportunities with an enthusiastic and open mind, the benefits are immense. Academically, gaining a first-hand, real-world perspective of issues learnt in the classroom serves to deepen students’ learning and knowledge application. More importantly, the journey builds independence, empathy, open-mindedness, not to mention soft-skills like communication and teamwork. These attributes not only build character and personal development, but also give students an edge when they are seeking employment and advancement in the competitive workplace.

We believe that our consistently strong Graduate Employment Survey results can be attributed to SMU’s holistic approach towards education (which includes making 80-hours of community service and 10-week of internship graduation requirements), and particularly to the international exposure that the majority of SMU graduates receive. To make sure no student misses out on this precious global experience, the University is committed to giving global exposure participation an extra push by enhancing support and by providing more (and new) opportunities for students.

Students may fulfil this requirement through a range of SMU-endorsed overseas courses and activities. Some of the qualifying overseas courses and activities are listed below for reference.

• Semester-long Exchange Programmes (includes semester-long Self-arranged External Study Programmes)
• Short-term Study Programmes (includes Summer Study Programmes)
• SMU-X Overseas Courses
• Study Missions
• Internship
• Global Innovation Immersion
• Community Service
• Co-Curricular Activities
• Cultural or Technological Immersion Programmes (including non-credit Study Trips)

Note: The minimum duration of an activity is five days (of activity) in order to qualify towards meeting the global exposure graduation requirement.

The typical durations for these activities are as follows:

Based on the latest statistics, close to 90% of the 1,877 SMU graduates from the Class of 2019 experienced at least one form of global exposure activity during the course of their university education at SMU; 55% of SMU students graduated with at least two types of global exposure programmes under their belt.

These overseas programmes include:

Presently, close to 90% of our graduates in the Class of 2019 have chosen to take up an activity from the myriad of overseas exposure programmes offered by the University. SMU will ramp up and enhance these opportunities following the implementation of the global exposure graduation requirement from Academic Year 2018-2019 onwards. With these added opportunities, the University expects more students to take up these formal programmes to fulfil the global exposure requirement.

In the event that students wish to fulfil the requirement through self-arranged personal learning trips, the University will evaluate, on a case-by-case basis, whether the intended activity or programme is in line with SMU’s university-level learning objectives.

A student going on an exchange programme to a partner university remains enrolled full-time at SMU while away on the exchange programme. Therefore, for each term that the student is away, the amount of tuition and student fees are per what the student would pay for a regular SMU term.

While the student is not required to pay tuition fees to the overseas partner University, the student is responsible for the costs of air tickets, living expenses, accommodation, additional travel arrangements and health insurance etc. Based on feedback from students who recently went on such trips, the estimated cost differs according to the region that the student travels to:

There are numerous forms of financial aid available to students to offset the cost of going on exchange programmes.

Students who participate in many forms of global exposure, such as overseas internships and overseas community service, may apply for grants/subsidies to cover the cost of the travel. Most students who go on overseas internships or overseas community service are awarded grants which cover the expenses involved with the global exposure activity.

For study missions, the cost varies depending on the destination region. The estimated cost, by region, is as follows:

SMU has a range of University-funded and donor-supported financial assistance schemes that needy students can tap on for their overseas activities and programmes. The value of these financial assistance schemes ranges from S$500 to S$10,000. Some of these grants/subsidies are listed below. Singaporean SMU students may also tap on the SMU Overseas Student Programme Loan, which has no income criterion.

SMU is committed to provide necessary assistance and financial support in situations where a student faces difficulties completing the global exposure requirement due to financial issues.

* Some of the grants/subsidies available (non-exhaustive) include:

• SMU Overseas Student Educational Programme Subsidy
• Community Service Projects Grant
• Doris and Mick Aw Accounting Study Grant
• Joanne Chan Memorial Fund Social Science Study Mission Grant
• Law Study Mission Financial Grant
• Mrs Tracy Tan Overseas Exposure Grant
• Ruth Chiang Overseas Community Service Grant
• School of Accountancy Education Enhancement Fund
• School of Accountancy International Experience Fund
• SMU ASEAN Exposure Grant
• SMU Partial Conference Funding
• Tan Tiong Hwee Memorial Fund Grant
• Wilmar Overseas Community Service Project Grant
• Wilmar Overseas Internship Grant

We are aware of students who have difficulties travelling because of exceptional circumstances. We strongly encourage students to discuss and seek advice with our university counsellors and faculty advisors should they have any concerns. SMU is committed to our students’ welfare and success, and we will work with students facing exceptional and challenging situations to explore holistic alternatives and consider exceptions where necessary.

For enquiries related to local and overseas exchange matters, kindly reach out to the teams below respectively:

Singapore Universities Student Exchange Programme (SUSEP) susep@smu.edu.sg

International Student Exchange Programme _Outbound (ISEP) isep.outbound@smu.edu.sg

As the Free Electives component in the curriculum allows students to choose courses from their major to deepen their disciplinary domain knowledge, or courses from other majors and schools to broaden their knowledge across disciplines, students may take any SMU course to fulfil this component. These courses may be double-counted towards a second major or a second degree.

Students may be given exemptions for up to 3 Free Electives CUs on the basis of good pre-university grades for GCE A-level, Polytechnic Diploma, or other recognised qualifications.

For more information on exemptions, please refer to this website: https://admissions.smu.edu.sg/faqs/exemptions

Under the Exploratory Courses policy, students are allowed to exclude two passed grades from cGPA computation (with the exception of the compulsory Core Curriculum courses, namely, Big Questions, Ethics and Social/Corporate Responsibility, Economics and Society, Writing and Reasoning, and any other course under the Core Curriculum that is mandated by the respective schools for their students, compulsory Major Core courses and compulsory Track Core courses) for courses taken before their final term of coursework. In other words, students may declare any two passed electives or additional courses taken in SMU up to, and including, their penultimate term of coursework as Exploratory Courses.

Declaration of Exploratory Courses may be made at a specified period in the final term, determined by the Registrar’s Office. Requests for declaration of Exploratory Courses outside the specified period will not be entertained. All declarations made are final and non-reversible. After students have made their declaration, the necessary changes will be effected by the final term.

The objective of the Exploratory Course policy is to enhance student learning by encouraging them to stretch themselves academically and experiment with classes outside their major or their usual spheres of interest. Compulsory Major Core courses and Compulsory Track Core courses are required to ensure students develop depth in their main disciplines of study, hence would not qualify as Exploratory Courses. At the same time, compulsory courses in the Core Curriculum are designed to provide students with a shared intellectual experience upon which students may converse and debate, hence these courses are also excluded from the policy.

There will not be changes to the criteria for the degree awards. Based on the University’s back-testing of data, the impact of Exploratory Courses on the proportion of degree awards is small.

It should be noted that academic outcomes involving grades and term or cumulative GPA that were applied prior to the declaration of Exploratory Courses, e.g. Dean’s List, Academic Standing, or any awards given prior to the declaration of Exploratory Courses will not be changed. There will be no retrospective re-evaluation of these outcomes, regardless of the changes to the term or cGPA as a result of the declaration of Exploratory Courses.

The Exploratory Course policy does not apply to:

• Compulsory Core Curriculum courses, namely, Big Questions, Ethics and Social/Corporate Responsibility, Economics and Society, Writing and Reasoning,
• And any other course under the Core Curriculum that is mandated by the respective schools for their students,
• Compulsory Major Core courses and compulsory Track Core courses for courses taken before their final term of coursework.

Apart from these exceptions, students may declare any two passed electives or additional courses taken in SMU up to, and including, their penultimate term of coursework as Exploratory Courses.

Declaration of Exploratory Courses may be made at a specified period in the final term, determined by the Registrar’s Office. Requests for declaration of Exploratory Courses outside the specified period will not be entertained. All declarations made are final and non-reversible. After students have made their declaration, the necessary changes will be effected by the final term.

No. While the Internship programme focuses on helping SMU students develop career skills, the Work-Study option is designed to help students develop depth in their disciplinary knowledge through the work experience. For example, the Work-Study option includes regular mentorship meetings with the faculty advisors, as well as disciplinary assignments that are specifically tailored by the faculty advisors. Students who have undertaken prior long-term Internships would not have undergone this structured process of disciplinary instruction, hence their earlier Internship would not qualify as a Work-Study experience.

Yes. The Work-Study option applies to selected ongoing programmes that existing students may enrol into.

There will not be changes to the criteria for the degree awards. Based on the University’s back-testing of data, the impact of Exploratory Courses on the proportion of degree awards is small.

It should be noted that academic outcomes involving grades and term or cumulative GPA that were applied prior to the declaration of Exploratory Courses, e.g. Dean’s List, Academic Standing, or any awards given prior to the declaration of Exploratory Courses will not be changed. There will be no retrospective re-evaluation of these outcomes, regardless of the changes to the term or cGPA as a result of the declaration of Exploratory Courses.

For work-study options where students may take up to 2 courses while embarking on a 6-month long Internship, full regular fees will apply regardless of the number of additional courses taken.

In addition, students may not undertake the Work-Study option while on Leave of Absence (LOA).

Work-Study option is an initiative that requires considerable resources. At present, the Work-Study Elective is available through three programmes:

1. Health Economics and Management second major
2. SMU-Google Squared Data and Analytics programme
3. SMU-KPMG Cyber Risk and Forensics programme

The University is continually reviewing our offerings and will continue to add this list in the near future.

For more enquiries, please reach out to placement@smu.edu.sg.