Indonesia is highly ranked on several important indices for students and residents. Some highlights include:
There are four kinds of higher education institutions (HEIs) to study in Indonesia, with three providing academic courses and the fourth focusing on technical education.
1. Universities: They are similar to HEIs of the same name in other countries. They have several departments, which conduct research and teach courses in a wide range of technical, artistic, commercial, and social disciplines.
2. Tertiary Schools and Institutes: These are limited versions of Universities; their courses and research are confined to one discipline. For example, Engineering Institutes may have separate departments for Mechanical and Civil Engineering, for example, but they normally do not have Humanities departments.
3. Academies: They teach courses in a single branch of a discipline, and ordinarily only have one department. Language learning academies fall into this category.
4. Polytechnics: They focus on professional education, usually in technical fields, and cater to the market demand by producing trained qualified tradespeople.
Indonesian Polytechnics award diplomas or certificates, depending on the length of study. These are usually in various technical trades, and students may choose to enter immediately after completing high school. Polytechnics are well integrated with the industry, and most students can look forward to an immediate job placement.
Undergraduate Bachelor’s Programs in Indonesia take either three or four years to complete, depending on the discipline (engineering courses usually last four years). They are offered by Academies, Institutes, and Universities, with the latter offering undergraduate degrees in a wide range of disciplines. Candidates are expected to complete a semester-long project towards the end of their program, which is either called a Bachelor’s Thesis or course project.
Postgraduate programs in Indonesia are of many types. Some students choose to complete Master’s degrees, which last two years. Many students join integrated Master’s and PhD programs, which can take up to seven years to complete. Finally, there are integrated Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in medical and dental disciplines; these are usually completed in five or six years. No student will be issued a postgraduate degree without defending his/her Master’s Thesis before a panel of qualified external examiners.
PhD programs in Indonesia usually take five years to complete. After 1-2 years of coursework and training in analytical techniques, students spend several years working on one large research problem under the guidance of a faculty member. Once there is sufficient original work and progress made, students usually spend 1-2 semesters writing the PhD thesis, before defending the work in front of an examination panel. A successful doctoral thesis defense is required for award of a PhD degree.
The country has various universities that offer approximately all the disciplines of study. Some of the popular disciplines available to study abroad in Indonesia are-
Medical Science | Civil Engineering | Computer Science and Engineering |
Mechanical Engineering | Law | Psychology |
Communication Science | Islamic Business | Naval Engineering |
Anthropology | Library Science | Electronics Engineering |
Nursing Science | Social Welfare Studies | Public Administration |
Here are some popular cities that have the most universities in Indonesia. The numbers given below correspond to the distribution of the 60+ Public Universities only; there are thousands of institutes and private Universities over and above these e.g. 35+ Private HEis in Jakarta alone.
The name of the city | No. of Public Universities |
Jakarta | 3 |
Bandung | 2 |
Surabaya | 3 |
Malang | 2 |
Sleman | 3 |
Tuition fees in prominent public universities (e.g. the University of Indonesia) vary by program. For example, most courses are associated with annual fees of approximately 2,000 USD (31 million Rupiah), while medical and dental courses have tuition fees of almost 4,000 USD (62 million Rupiah) per year. There is also a one-time admission fee to be paid by students. Even with this, the cost of education is on par with most other Asian countries, and much lower than that in Europe or the United States.
The Indonesian student visa regulations mandate that applicants must show that they have access to the equivalent of 4,500 USD (71 million Rupiah) per year, sufficient to cover accommodation and living costs. The authorities estimate that the major contributors to this amount are rent (either for student housing or private housing) and food costs. Students should also budget for flight costs to and from the country, and mandatory field trips abroad (for certain programs).
Applicants for a long term Visa to study in Indonesia must complete the steps listed below, and submit the following documents during the online visa application process: