SINGAPORE - Students at local universities can expect to pay up to $80 more each month to stay on campus in the new academic year, which starts in August.

According to the latest figures from the websites of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), hostel prices have been rising in the last few years.

The increase applies to various room types, Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao first reported on July 10.

For example, at NTU’s Hall of Residence 1 built in 1955, students last year paid $558 a month for a non-air-conditioned single en-suite room, where facilities are shared with another room. For the upcoming academic year, fees have gone up by almost $50 to $602.

Non-air-conditioned double en-suite rooms will see a similar eight per cent rise, going from $381 to $412 per person per month.

Fees for air-conditioned single room units at the Hall of Residence 14, built in 2001, will similarly increase from $593 to $642 over the same period, while those for air-conditioned double rooms will rise from $436 to $472.

At NUS, weekly fees for on-campus accomodation are determined by the students’ year of matriculation.

Four years ago, first-year students residing at NUS’ oldest student hostel, King Edward VII Hall, which was built in 1916, would have paid $86 a week for a non-air-conditioned double room. In the new academic year, students will pay $114, an increase of $28 a week. In the previous year, the figure was $104 a week.

At Eusoff Hall, which opened in 1988, fees for a non-air-conditioned single room have gone up from $151 a week, to $165 in the last year - an increase of about nine per cent.

Meanwhile, an air-conditioned double room at NUS’ UTown Residence will cost $275.50 per week, up from $255 last year. This translates to a monthly increase of more than $80, or about eight per cent.

The Singapore Management University (SMU) is also expected to raise hostel fees for...