Challenges in the higher education market in Singapore vs education entrepreneurs

[Extract] Higher education has become a vibrant business in Singapore. The demand for private higher education in Singapore will continue to rise. This will be due to rising population of high school graduates, rising income of parents and international students wanting to study in Singapore because of Singapore's excellent infrastructure, government stability and the security offers to visitors. Private Colleges, Universities and Schools provide alternatives to students to choose from. Public universities such as NUS, NTU,STUD, SIT and SMU tend to have very high entrance requirements compared to the average private schools that admit students into their diploma programmes. Upon completion of their diplomas, these students can proceed to degree programmes in the same school or college, without the need to go abroad. The possibility of proceeding to the degree is the "selling point" for most private colleges and universities wishing to attract international students. The presence of the private institutions takes away the strains in providing higher education to the populace by the government. It becomes more a 'private good' and it can be freely traded in the market and whoever benefits from it will have to pay for it themselves. Winston Churchill said "the empires of the future are the empires of the mind". This prescient quotation is even more relevant today, where the success of societies and economies is increasingly dependent on the creation and innovative application of knowledge