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The University Scholars Programme (USP) and the Yale-NUS College (Yale-NUS) will eventually be combined into a single new college.

This was announced by the National University of Singapore (NUS) in a media release today morning (Aug. 27).

Yale-NUS was established in 2011.

It is is Singapore’s first liberal arts college, and the first with a full residential college model which integrates living and learning.

Why this merger?

The university said that the formation of this new college is the "latest move in NUS’ efforts to transform the educational experience at Singapore’s flagship university".

The merger brings together the "best features and extensive experience" of both colleges, hence, putting the College in a better position to provide a wider, and more specialised, range of offerings.

It will address the evolving needs and challenges of our world today by rethinking interdisciplinary education in a "bigger and bolder way".

According to Yale News, the aim of this change is to provide a greater number of Singaporean students access to an immersive, interdisciplinary liberal arts education.

In addition, the new college will not bear Yale's name.

What kind of curriculum will be offered?

The new College aims to continue the legacy of a "world class" interdisciplinary liberal arts education.

Under this College, students will read a new common curriculum that "adapted from the best of both the USP and Yale-NUS foundations", with the addition of new STEM elements.

The Yale-NUS common curriculum, which covers literature and history, modern social thought, philosophy, quantitative reasoning and scientific inquiry, has been an inspiration for expanding interdisciplinary education and designing a common curriculum across NUS.

Similarly, the USP curriculum has also enabled students to make strong connections across disciplines, from foundational skills to deep dives into various fields spanning the humanities to science and technology.

The new curriculum will keep the same feature of USP, where students will be able to access a wide range of majors, second majors, minors and specialisations offered across NUS and attain disciplinary depth.

Students will still be able to experience the interdisciplinary learning characterised by flexible curriculum, residential living and small group teaching.

What will happen to current students?

The New College will welcome its first intake of up to 500 students in Academic Year 2022/23.

Yale-NUS will remain open and continue running its academic, co-curricular and research programmes until the end of Academic Year 2024/25.

Yale-NUS students who matriculated in Academic Year 2021/22, and who form the graduating Class of 2025, will be the final cohort of students in Yale-NUS.

All current Yale-NUS students including the final cohort will continue to enjoy the full Yale-NUS experience. They also earn the same Yale-NUS degree conferred by NUS as their predecessors.

Students currently enrolled in the USP will transit into the New College from Academic Year 2022/23.

Second interdisciplinary college: CDE

Apart from the New College, NUS also announced the launch of yet another interdisciplinary college: The Faculty of Engineering and the School of Design and Environment will merge to form the College of Design and Engineering.

Previously, it had been announced that from Aug. 2021, new cohort of students enrolled in the NUS Faculty of Engineering and NUS School of Design and Environment can take courses from both schools to develop competencies across different fields.

CDE will be home to the 11 departments in the two existing schools.

Professor Aaron Thean, current Dean of NUS Faculty of Engineering, said that the new College is expected to be officially launched in November 2021. Students who are currently enrolled in the two schools will transit into the new College with effect from Jan. 1, 2022.

Top photo via Yale-NUS College, Yale-NUS Daily News.