Raffles University (RU)

About Raffles University (RU)

Raffles University, branded as RU and previously named Raffles University Iskandar (RUI), is a private university located at Medini in Iskandar Puteri, Johor. The institution was formally approved by the Ministry of Higher Education on 31 October 2011 and operates under the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996. The operating company is Raffles Iskandar Sdn Bhd, an 80:20 joint venture between Singapore mainboard-listed Raffles Education Limited (formerly Raffles Education Corporation) and Education@Iskandar Sdn Bhd, the education arm of Iskandar Investment Berhad.

The university occupies premises at G-05, Medini 7, Jalan Medini Sentral 5, Bandar Medini Iskandar Malaysia, 79250 Iskandar Puteri, Johor. RU sits in central Medini, the commercial heart of the Iskandar Puteri growth zone, and is developing a 65-acre purpose-built campus within the EduCity Iskandar Malaysia precinct. EduCity itself is a 240-hectare integrated education hub developed by Iskandar Investment Berhad through Education@Iskandar Sdn Bhd, hosting Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, Marlborough College Malaysia, Reading Malaysia, Multimedia University Iskandar, and Raffles University.

Raffles University is the Malaysian node of the Raffles Education global network, which spans 16 educational institutions across 9 countries: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, and the People’s Republic of China. The academic lineage traces to Raffles Design Institute Singapore, founded in 1990 and now operating as Raffles College of Higher Education on Orchard Road. RU’s creative-industries curriculum, design pedagogy, and inter-school transfer scheme inherit directly from this Singapore heritage.

Within the Malaysian private universities sector, RU is one of a small number of institutions positioned around creative industries rather than around medicine, engineering, or general business. The institutional positioning competes directly with The One Academy in Sunway, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Cyberjaya, and Dasein Academy of Art in Kuala Lumpur, with RU differentiated by its Iskandar Puteri location, Singapore network access, and joint-venture link to Iskandar Investment Berhad.

The university holds a 4-star QS Stars institutional rating, with 5-star sub-ratings in Employability, Teaching, Online Learning and Inclusiveness. Programmes are accredited under the Malaysian Qualifications Framework and registered with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency under entity ID 599. The Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours) carries additional recognition from Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia, and the Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) (Honours) provides ACCA exemptions covering the first 9 fundamental papers.

Raffles University Location and Campus (Iskandar Puteri, Johor)

Raffles University is located at G-05, Medini 7, Jalan Medini Sentral 5, Bandar Medini Iskandar Malaysia, 79250 Iskandar Puteri, Johor. The Medini campus sits within the central commercial district of Iskandar Puteri, the largest city in the Iskandar Malaysia economic zone in southern Johor. Medini hosts a mix of corporate offices, retail, residential and education tenants, and is the closest mainland Malaysian commercial hub to the Singapore border via the Tuas Second Link.

The campus is approximately 25 minutes by car from Johor Bahru city centre, 30 minutes from Senai International Airport in Kulai, and 45 minutes from the Tuas Second Link checkpoint into Singapore. KSL Resort, Mall of Medini, and the LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort are within a 10-minute drive. The Iskandar Puteri City Council administrative complex, Kota Iskandar, is roughly 5 minutes away. Public transport includes the Causeway Link bus network and intercity coaches via the Larkin terminal.

Raffles University is developing a new 65-acre purpose-built campus within the EduCity Iskandar Malaysia precinct, a few kilometres from the current Medini campus. EduCity is a 240-hectare integrated higher education hub developed by Iskandar Investment Berhad and operated through its subsidiary Education@Iskandar Sdn Bhd. The hub already hosts Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, Marlborough College Malaysia (UK boarding), Multimedia University Iskandar, Reading Malaysia, and Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios. The EduCity development gives RU its long-term campus expansion footprint and embeds it in a cluster of foreign and specialist tertiary institutions.

The current Medini campus accommodates the academic departments, design studios, computer labs, and administrative offices in a vertical commercial-grade building. Specialist facilities include dedicated interior design studios, fashion design sewing rooms, photography labs, video and animation editing suites, an AI and digital design lab, and library facilities. The vertical campus model differs from horizontal greenfield campuses such as AIMST in Bedong or Multimedia University Cyberjaya, and reflects the urban land economics of Medini, where development land is priced for commercial rather than institutional use.

For students from Johor Bahru, Pasir Gudang, Pontian and the wider south Johor area, RU is the closest creative-industries-focused private university and removes the need to relocate to the Klang Valley to study fashion, interior design, multimedia, or graphic design. For Singaporean students seeking a Singapore-network creative degree at Malaysian fee levels, RU is the natural cross-border option, accessible by daily commute from Tuas Second Link.

Raffles University Programmes (Design, Fashion, Business, Hospitality, IT)

Raffles University organises its academic offerings across five disciplinary clusters: Arts and Design, Business and Social Sciences, Built Environment and Regenerative Design, AI and Robotics, and a foundation and pre-university tier. The university offers Foundation, Diploma, Bachelor (Honours), Masters and Doctoral qualifications across both traditional and online distance learning delivery modes.

The Arts and Design Faculty is RU’s flagship discipline, inherited from the Raffles Design Institute Singapore lineage. Bachelor-level programmes include Bachelor of Fashion Design (Honours), Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours), Bachelor of Graphic Design (Honours), and Bachelor of Multimedia Design (Honours). Diploma-level offerings include Diploma in Fashion Design, Diploma in Digital Game Art, and Diploma in Visual Communication. The fashion and interior design programmes are RU’s strongest brand assets, with portfolio-driven curricula, industry studio facilities, and inter-school transfer access to Raffles College of Higher Education Singapore for students seeking cross-cultural design exposure.

The Business and Accountancy Faculty runs Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours), Bachelor of Business in Accountancy (Honours) (with ACCA exemption from the first 9 fundamental papers), and specialist bachelor programmes in Supply Chain Management and Human Resource Management. The accountancy pathway is the most professionally credentialed business offering at RU, with the ACCA exemption providing direct progression to the professional qualification post-graduation.

The Multimedia Design programme delivers a digital media syllabus covering graphic design, art history, animation, programming, and sound and video production. Students work with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator), photography hardware, video editing software, web design tools, animation, 3D graphics, and print design across the four-year curriculum. The programme bridges traditional graphic design and emerging digital game and motion media practice.

The Built Environment and Regenerative Design cluster operates around the interior design programme, which carries Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia recognition and feeds into LAM-registered interior design practice in Malaysia.

The Foundation and Diploma tier delivers Foundation in Arts (RU’s main entry pathway from SPM into the Arts and Design degrees), Foundation in Business, and a range of Diploma programmes that function as terminal qualifications or as stepping stones into the bachelor programmes. SPM-leavers without Foundation typically enter via Diploma and progress with credit transfer.

At postgraduate level, RU offers Masters and Doctoral qualifications across business, design, and education disciplines, including online distance learning options. The postgraduate intake is smaller than the undergraduate base and operates on rolling admissions rather than fixed semester intakes.

Notably absent from the current portfolio is a dedicated Mass Communication degree as a standalone faculty, though communication-adjacent content is delivered through the Multimedia Design and Graphic Design programmes. Hospitality is similarly delivered as a programme rather than a full faculty, with curriculum emphasising hospitality business management within the broader business school structure.

Raffles University Fees and Tuition

Raffles University publishes fees in three structural tiers (Foundation, Diploma, Bachelor) with international student fees quoted on a separate schedule. Fees are quoted as total programme cost rather than annual tuition for Foundation and Diploma, and as either annual or total cost for Bachelor degrees.

Programme	Tuition (RM)	Notes
Foundation in Arts / Business	23,200	Total programme
Diploma programmes (24 months)	32,500 to 50,500	Total programme, varies by discipline
Bachelor (Honours) – general range	77,600 to 95,900	Total tuition, Malaysian students
Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours)	95,900	Indicative tuition; total RM 115,000 inclusive of fees
Bachelor of Fashion Design (Honours)	within bachelor range	Malaysian; international MYR 105,050/year
Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours)	within bachelor range	Malaysian; international MYR 129,800/year

The Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours) total fee structure published on the RU website breaks down as follows: Application Fee RM 4,500; Admission Fee RM 12,600; Administration Fee RM 2,000; Indicative Tuition Fee RM 95,900; total RM 115,000. This is the most-detailed published fee for any RU bachelor programme and serves as the benchmark for other honours bachelor degree pricing within the institution.

Foundation programmes at RM 23,200 total are positioned as the entry pathway from SPM into the design and business degrees. Diploma programmes ranging from RM 32,500 to RM 50,500 over 24 months function either as terminal vocational qualifications or as articulation routes into the Bachelor (Honours) programmes with credit transfer. The undergraduate degree range of RM 77,600 to RM 95,900 places RU within the mid-tier private university pricing band, materially below branch-campus competitors in Iskandar Puteri (which run RM 200,000 to RM 500,000 in total programme cost) and broadly comparable with creative-industries peers in the Klang Valley.

International student fees run on a separate schedule. Published international rates include the Bachelor of Fashion Design (Honours) at MYR 105,050 per year, and the Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours) at MYR 129,800 per year. These figures are inclusive of programme costs and reflect the EMGS-administered international student fee bands.

RU operates a published merit-scholarship scheme based on pre-university academic performance. The standard schedule awards 2.5 per cent tuition fee waiver per A grade in SPM, O-Level, UEC, STPM or A-Level, capped at 20 per cent maximum scholarship. Foundation and Diploma achievers progressing into Bachelor at CGPA 3.5 or higher receive a 10 per cent scholarship on the bachelor tuition. Federal funding pathways including PTPTN are accepted for eligible programmes.

Students should also budget separately for accommodation in Iskandar Puteri (rental Medini and Educity area runs RM 800 to RM 1,800 per month for shared apartments), transport, books and materials (design and fashion students will incur substantial fabric, model-making and digital software costs), and personal expenses. The Iskandar Puteri cost-of-living is meaningfully higher than smaller-town locations such as Bedong or Cyberjaya, but lower than central Singapore for students commuting cross-border.

For the most current fee schedule by programme, prospective students should request the published prospectus directly from the admissions office at admissions@raffles-university.edu.my or via the official website at raffles-university.edu.my.

Raffles University Accreditation and MQA Recognition

Raffles University is registered with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency under MQA entity ID 599 (previously listed as Raffles University Iskandar). All degree, diploma, and foundation programmes offered by RU are accredited under the Malaysian Qualifications Framework and listed on the MQA Register at www2.mqa.gov.my. MQA accreditation is the regulatory prerequisite for RU graduates to use their qualifications for civil service eligibility, postgraduate entry to Malaysian universities, and recognition under the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications schemes that Malaysia has signed with regional partner countries.

The institutional-level approval traces to the Ministry of Higher Education’s formal recognition on 31 October 2011, which authorised Raffles Iskandar Sdn Bhd to operate as a private university under the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996. Since 2011, RU has held continuous institutional registration, with periodic MQA review of its programme portfolio.

Beyond MQA registration, several RU programmes carry additional professional body recognition:

• The Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours) is recognised by Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia (LAM), the statutory body governing architectural and interior design practice in Malaysia. LAM recognition is the prerequisite for graduates to register and practise as interior designers under the Malaysian regulatory regime.
• The Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) (Honours) carries ACCA recognition with student exemption from the first 9 fundamental papers of the ACCA professional qualification, which materially reduces the time and cost for RU accountancy graduates to complete ACCA membership.

RU also holds a 4-star QS Stars institutional rating, a scheme operated by Quacquarelli Symonds. Within the QS Stars sub-categories, RU holds 5-star ratings in Employability, Teaching, Online Learning and Inclusiveness. QS Stars is a self-applied institutional rating distinct from the QS World University Rankings, and serves as a marketing-facing accreditation signal alongside MQA registration.

Raffles University does not currently appear in the QS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, or the SETARA institutional rating tier list. The institution’s standing within the Malaysian sector rests primarily on MQA accreditation, the LAM and ACCA professional recognitions, and the QS Stars sub-category profile.

Raffles University Admissions

Raffles University operates rolling admissions across most programmes, with intakes typically aligning with the Malaysian academic calendar (January, May or July, and September starts). Application lead time is shorter than larger research universities; international applicants should factor in additional time for the EMGS student pass.

Entry requirements vary by programme tier:

Foundation in Arts / Foundation in Business entry requires SPM with a minimum of 5 credits including Bahasa Malaysia, Mathematics and English, O-Level equivalent, or other recognised pre-university qualifications. Foundation is the standard 12-month pathway into the Bachelor (Honours) programmes for SPM-leavers.

Diploma programmes require SPM with 3 credits or O-Level equivalent. Diploma is typically a 24-month qualification and may be used either as a terminal vocational award or as an articulation route into Bachelor (Honours) programmes with credit transfer.

Bachelor (Honours) programmes typically require Foundation completion at the required CGPA, STPM with relevant principal passes, A-Levels, UEC with at least 5 Bs (varying by programme), or an equivalent recognised pre-university qualification. Design programmes (Fashion, Interior, Graphic, Multimedia) may also require portfolio submission or interview to assess creative aptitude.

Postgraduate Masters and Doctoral programmes run on rolling admissions with applicants required to hold a relevant bachelor’s or master’s qualification, satisfy the programme-specific CGPA threshold, and submit a research proposal where the qualification is research-based.

International applicants must also demonstrate English language proficiency through IELTS, TOEFL, MUET, or equivalent, and complete the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) student pass application separately from the RU internal admissions decision.

Application contact: admissions@raffles-university.edu.my, with the official website at raffles-university.edu.my. The university website provides the current programme-by-programme prospectus, intake calendar, and application portal.

Raffles University’s Creative Industries Specialty and Raffles Education Group Heritage

Raffles University’s institutional specialty is creative-industries education, inherited directly from the Raffles Design Institute Singapore academic lineage. The Singapore parent institution was founded in 1990 as one of the first private institutions in Singapore to offer a fashion design course, and within five years had expanded into Interactive Media Design, Visual Communication, Product Design, Jewellery Design, Interior Design, Games Design, and Animation Design. The Singapore institution now operates as Raffles College of Higher Education at 111 Somerset on Orchard Road.

Raffles Education Limited, the Singapore mainboard-listed parent group, has grown the network to 16 educational institutions across 9 countries: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, and the People’s Republic of China. The Group also operates a Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed subsidiary, Oriental University City Holdings (H.K.) Ltd., which leases education facilities to 12 educational institutions offering vocational and technical courses in China. The full-network corporate structure spans both the Singapore mainboard listing and the Hong Kong-listed real estate vehicle, with academic operations conducted through individual country subsidiaries such as Raffles Iskandar Sdn Bhd in Malaysia.

The practical consequences of RU’s network membership for students include the inter-school transfer scheme, which allows enrolled students to study at any of the 16 Raffles institutions across the 9-country footprint. The transfer scheme is most heavily used in the design programmes, where students may complete part of their study at Raffles College of Higher Education Singapore (Orchard Road) for cross-cultural design exposure, before returning to RU Iskandar Puteri to complete the degree. The scheme functions in the reverse direction as well, with Singapore-enrolled students taking semesters at RU Malaysia for fee differential or programme content reasons.

The academic heritage running from Raffles Design Institute Singapore (1990) through to RU Malaysia (2011) shapes RU’s institutional identity in three ways. First, the curriculum prioritises portfolio-driven, industry-aligned creative practice over traditional theoretical research output, which differs from research-led universities. Second, the design pedagogy emphasises studio-based learning, peer critique, and exhibition culture rather than lecture-and-exam delivery. Third, the alumni network of Raffles design graduates across Southeast Asia provides industry placement and career pathway access beyond what an unaffiliated single-country institution could offer.

The creative-industries specialty places RU in a niche that overlaps with The One Academy in Sunway, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Cyberjaya, Dasein Academy of Art in Kuala Lumpur, and the Multimedia University Cyberjaya creative arts faculty. Within this niche, RU is differentiated by its Iskandar Puteri location, Singapore network access, and the joint-venture link to Iskandar Investment Berhad, which gives it commercial and industry relationships within the Iskandar Malaysia growth zone that the Klang Valley creative institutions cannot replicate.

How Raffles University Compares to Other Iskandar Puteri / Johor Universities

Iskandar Puteri hosts a distinctive cluster of foreign branch campuses, specialist universities, and Malaysian private institutions concentrated in and around the EduCity Iskandar Malaysia precinct. The cluster includes Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (UK MBBS branch campus), Marlborough College Malaysia (UK boarding school for K to 12), Reading Malaysia (UK degrees in real estate, quantity surveying, and built environment), Multimedia University Iskandar (Malaysian private university with engineering and creative multimedia heritage), and Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios (film production facility with related training programmes). Raffles University is the creative-industries node within this cluster.

Within the broader Johor higher education map, RU shares space with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM, public research university in Skudai), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM, public technical university in Batu Pahat), and several private institutions including Southern University College in Skudai. None of these competitors operates at the same creative-industries focus as RU.

The comparison with Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia is instructive on positioning. Newcastle Malaysia delivers a UK MBBS at total programme costs running into RM 700,000-plus, oriented around medical training and UK degree status. RU delivers Malaysian creative-industries bachelor degrees at total tuition of RM 77,600 to RM 95,900, oriented around design portfolio, industry exposure, and Singapore-network transfer. The two institutions share the EduCity precinct but serve completely non-overlapping student segments.

The comparison with Multimedia University (MMU) Iskandar is closer on programme content. MMU Iskandar delivers Bachelor of Multimedia and creative technology degrees with a stronger engineering and computer science underlay, while RU delivers Bachelor of Multimedia Design with a stronger graphic design and visual culture underlay. Students choosing between the two typically split on whether they prioritise computer science fundamentals (MMU) or design portfolio output (RU).

For Malaysian students from Johor, Negeri Sembilan, and the southern peninsular region, RU removes the need to relocate to Sunway, Cyberjaya, or Kuala Lumpur for a creative-industries degree. For Singaporean students, RU is the natural cross-border option for Malaysian-fee creative education with Singapore-network transfer access. For international students, particularly from Indonesia, China, and Southeast Asia, RU’s combination of EduCity location, Singapore academic heritage, and Iskandar Investment Berhad institutional partnership provides a distinctive value proposition.

Within Johor private universities, RU is one of a small number of degree-conferring institutions, alongside Southern University College and the various branch campuses in EduCity. The state hosts a substantial public university footprint (UTM Skudai is the headline research institution) but a comparatively thin private sector outside of Iskandar Puteri itself.

Raffles University Contact and Practical Information

Raffles University is contactable through the following official channels for prospective student enquiries, programme information, and admissions applications:

• Address: G-05, Medini 7, Jalan Medini Sentral 5, Bandar Medini Iskandar Malaysia, 79250 Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia
• Website: raffles-university.edu.my
• Admissions email: admissions@raffles-university.edu.my
• MQA register entity ID: 599 (listed as Raffles University, previously Raffles University Iskandar)
• Operating company: Raffles Iskandar Sdn Bhd (80 per cent Raffles Education Limited, 20 per cent Education@Iskandar Sdn Bhd)

The Medini campus is accessible by car via the Coastal Highway and the Iskandar Coastal Highway, and by public transport via the Causeway Link bus network. From Singapore, the campus is approximately 45 minutes by car via the Tuas Second Link checkpoint at Tanjung Kupang, making it a viable cross-border commute for Singaporean students and faculty.

Prospective students should request the current programme-by-programme prospectus and detailed fee schedule from the admissions office before committing to an application, since published external aggregator information (TopUniversities, EduAdvisor, AfterSchool, Unienrol) varies in detail and currency. The official RU website at raffles-university.edu.my carries the authoritative current intake calendar, fee structure, and entry requirement schedule.

Raffles University, founded 2011 under joint venture between Singapore mainboard-listed Raffles Education Limited and Iskandar Investment Berhad’s Education@Iskandar Sdn Bhd, located at Medini in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, registered with MQA under entity ID 599, holding 4-star QS Stars institutional rating, with bachelor honours fees ranging RM 77,600 to RM 95,900 and creative-industries programmes spanning fashion design, interior design, graphic design, multimedia, business, and accountancy, sits as the creative-industries node of the EduCity Iskandar Malaysia education cluster, inheriting the academic lineage of Raffles Design Institute Singapore (1990) through the Raffles global network of 16 institutions across 9 countries.