Study options - Fee Paying (Monash Malaysia)

What can I study?

So long as you have the necessary academic background and satisfy the pre-requisites, you can enrol in almost any of the units (subjects) offered at Monash Malaysia.

You will find that our courses are accredited by professional bodies in Malaysia and Australia. For example, our psychology subjects are recognised by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). Our accounting units are accredited by the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (among others), the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), including professional associations in Australia.

Our schools

We encourage you to undertake multidisciplinary studies by selecting units across different study areas should it fit your academic progression at your home university. A wide selection of units offered by seven of our Schools is available for your selection.

So even if you’re studying a Bachelor of Science you could try some journalism, maybe a Bachelor of Arts student might like to understand business analytics a bit more, or an Engineering student may have always wanted to study the cultural and social intricacies within South East Asia. Whatever you’d like to achieve, or try, you can do it at Monash Malaysia.

Areas of study and interesting units

At Monash, each campus has their own strengths and localised unit offerings, for example Parkville campus is all about pharmacy studies, and not everything is offered at every campus – so it’s a good idea to check that the subjects you’d like to study are offered at the campus you want to attend.

Particular areas of study at the Malaysia campus which are popular among our exchange and study abroad students are within the fields of Islamic Banking and Finance (School of Business), Gender studies in Southeast Asia (School of Arts and Social Sciences), and Tropical Biology (School of Science).

We encourage you to consider the localised units within these key areas as it will offer you the opportunity to understand on issues and perspectives particular to the region. It could provide you the opportunity for a field trip to the jungles of Borneo or observe the coral reef ecosystems while swimming with black tipped reef sharks and turtles in Pulau Perhentian.

Malaysian cultural and language programs

To complement your academic program, you can sign up for non-credit earning course Malaysian Studies course, which introduces you to the multi-facets of Malaysia. You can also impress your friends with your basic communication skills in the local language, Bahasa Malaysia, when you complete the non-credit earning Malay Language course held on-campus. The course runs for a full semester and you can sign up for it during orientation. Contact Monash Abroad for more information on these courses.

Academic considerations

If you are applying to study second or third year units, you may be required to show that you have completed the prerequisites as detailed in the Monash handbook.

There are some units that are unavailable to you as an exchange or study abroad student. For example:

• Most 4th year and honours units are not available
• Postgraduate units are generally available only to postgraduate students (those who have already completed a bachelor degree) and are normally scheduled for evening lectures and tutorials.
• All Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery units are not available

You should also check the School-specific considerations below if your unit selections include units/courses from one of these Schools. These additional requirements are applicable to non-Monash applicants.

Arts and Social Sciences

If you are a Master-level student, requests to study Undergraduate-level units will not be approved by the faculty. You must choose Master-level units for your application.

Business

• If you are applying to do accounting, finance, economics, econometrics and statistics units you must provide evidence of completion of high level Mathematics (final year secondary or tertiary level).
• Your detailed curriculum and results of your completed Maths units should be attached to your Monash Abroad application for assessment by the faculty.
• You cannot request to study a unit of same year level and content as an already completed unit listed on your academic transcript – this will not be approved by the faculty.

Engineering

• You cannot request to study a unit of same year level and content as an already completed unit listed on your academic transcript – this will not be approved by the faculty.
• The School of Engineering may request for the official detailed unit syllabuses for all previously studied Engineering units - including the number of hours of classes per week, the assessment requirements of the units, the textbooks used, and an outline of the content.

Psychology

• Psychology units are only available to students with substantial previous study in Psychology.
• The Department of Psychology may request for official unit /subject descriptions for all previously studied Psychology units – including the number of hours of classes per week, the assessment requirements of the units, the textbooks used, and an outline of the content.
• Approval for 1st year units is fairly straightforward. If you are applying for 2nd or 3rd year units you must have a working knowledge of statistics programs like SPSS and have previously written scientific lab reports.

Pharmacy

You can only apply for 1st year Pharmacy units unless you are studying a Bachelor of Pharmacy or a Bachelor of Science (Pharmaceutical science) degree at your home university.

Science

The School of Science may request for the official detailed unit syllabuses for all previously studied Science units - including the number of hours of classes per week, the assessment requirements of the units, the textbooks used, and an outline of the content.

Student handbooks and unit descriptions

The Monash handbook is an important source when selecting the units you wish to take at Monash. Detailed information for each unit is provided which includes:

• unit code
• faculty
• credit points
• study hours
• semester(s) offered
• campus(es) where the units are taught
• any prerequisites
• a description of what you’ll study
• assessment requirements.

To search for units offered at Monash University Malaysia, open the link to the Unit Handbook and follow the steps below

1. Use the “Advanced Search” tool to set your preferred filters
2. Click on “Units”
3. In the left-hand menu, select “Location” and tick “Malaysia”
4. In the same left-hand menu, select “Implementation Year” and tick the year you wish to study in
5. In the same left-hand menu, select “Teaching Period” and tick "First Semester" or "Second Semester", depending on which Monash semester you wish to study with us. For Monash semester dates, please see here.

Monash Course Finder may also be helpful. It’s an online database of every degree offered by us, and it’s a great tool for searching keyword terms – you can also navigate to individual unit details this way. You should be aware that the fee and application information in Course Finder does not apply to exchange and study abroad students.

Please contact the Monash Abroad office should you require detailed unit guides for assessment by your home institution.

The specifics about study at Monash

Your study load

Under Malaysian Student Pass rules, as an exchange or study abroad student you must be enrolled full-time throughout your stay.

A normal full-time load at Monash is 24 credit points (four units/subjects), but 18 credit points (three units/subjects) is permitted. You cannot enrol in more than 24 credit points or less than 18 credit points per semester.

How many hours will I be doing?

The hours you’ll spend in class, and in self-directed study, vary depending on the type of class you’re taking (check the unit’s handbook entry for specific details), but generally:

The Monash grading scale

All faculties and Schools at all Monash campuses use a common grading scale for undergraduate and postgraduate coursework units. When you complete your studies at Monash you will receive an official Monash transcript that will display the grades you earned in each unit.

The Monash grading policy gives you more detailed information about grade conversions, although your home university might convert grades using a different measure.

Monash terminology

Monash may use different terminologies than universities in your home country. Understanding these terms will help you when completing your study plan. For example “course” in your country may refer to single classes/units, whereas “course” at Monash refers to a whole degree or program (for example Bachelor of Arts).

Read our full list of Monash terminology.