Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS)

About Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS)

Universiti Islam Selangor, abbreviated as UIS, is a private Islamic university located in Bandar Seri Putra in the Bangi-Kajang corridor of Selangor. The institution is wholly owned by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council, known in Malay as Majlis Agama Islam Selangor or MAIS, and operates under the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996. UIS reached full university status on 14 October 2022, when Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the Sultan of Selangor, presented the official instrument of upgrade at Istana Bukit Kayangan. This made UIS the third name and the third institutional grade in a continuous lineage that began as Kolej Islam Selangor Darul Ehsan (KISDAR) in 1995 and ran through Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor (KUIS) from 2004 to 2022.

The university serves a student population pursuing studies across 5 faculties and 83 MQA-accredited programmes at Foundation, Diploma, Bachelor, Master, and PhD levels. The disciplinary spread reaches from the original Islamic studies pillars of Syariah, Usuluddin, Dakwah, and Quran and Sunnah outward into Muamalat, Islamic banking and finance, business, accounting, education, communication, multimedia, broadcasting, Arabic language, and information technology. Tengku Permaisuri Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin was proclaimed the first Chancellor of UIS, with the appointment certificate presented by Sultan Sharafuddin during the 27th UIS Convocation in Kajang. The current Vice-Chancellor is Dato’ Profesor Dr. Mohd Farid Ravi bin Abdullah.

The institutional positioning of UIS sits at the intersection of three reference points in Malaysian Islamic higher education. First, it is a state-religious-council-owned institution, which distinguishes it from the federally funded public Islamic universities such as the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in Nilai and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Gombak. Second, it is a fully accredited university, which distinguishes it from the Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Sultan Ismail Petra (KIAS) in Kelantan, which remains a university college owned by its respective state. Third, it operates within the densest geographic cluster of Islamic and quasi-Islamic higher education in Malaysia, with USIM in Nilai approximately 30 km south, the National University of Malaysia (UKM) in Bangi proper a few kilometres north, and the federal capital region within a 45-minute commute.

UIS is one of the larger private universities in Selangor by programme breadth and the only Selangor-state-owned higher education institution holding full university status. The Bandar Seri Putra campus, opened in 2002 and continuously expanded since, sits between Kajang and Bangi and is reachable via the SILK Highway, the LEKAS Expressway, and the KTM Komuter Bandar Tasik Selatan-Sungai Gadut line.

Campus and Location of Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS)

The Universiti Islam Selangor main campus occupies a site in Bandar Seri Putra, a planned township between Bangi and Kajang in the southern Klang Valley. KISDAR began operations in 1995 in temporary premises at the former Sekolah Menengah Agama Tengku Ampuan Jemaah (SAMTAJ) building in Shah Alam. In June 2000, the institution relocated all operations to the purpose-built Bandar Seri Putra campus. The new campus was officially opened by Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on 25 May 2002, two years after operational handover, marking the formal transition from interim to permanent home.

The Bandar Seri Putra address places UIS within the postal jurisdiction of Kajang while sitting within the wider Bangi educational belt. The site is approximately 5 km from Bangi town centre, 8 km from Kajang town centre, and roughly 30 km south of central Kuala Lumpur. Travel to UIS by road runs through the SILK Highway and the LEKAS Expressway, while public transport access is via the KTM Komuter line stopping at Bandar Tasik Selatan or the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang line terminating at Kajang. The Selangor state administrative capital, Shah Alam, lies approximately 35 km to the northwest, making UIS more directly oriented to Putrajaya and southern Klang Valley than to Shah Alam.

The contiguous campus footprint accommodates the five faculty buildings, a central administration building, the chancellery, the central library, the Masjid UIS, lecture halls, computer laboratories, hostels, and faculty residences. As an Islamic university, the campus runs the daily prayers from the central masjid and observes a Muslim-majority cohort dress code and academic calendar that integrates the Islamic religious calendar alongside the Gregorian semester system.

For Selangor families weighing UIS against the public Islamic universities, the geographic proximity is a meaningful factor. USIM in Nilai is approximately 30 km south of Bandar Seri Putra, IIUM Gombak is approximately 45 km north on the Karak Highway, and UKM in Bangi proper is approximately 5 km away. Within this triangle, UIS is the most centrally positioned of the four for students drawn from the Kajang, Bangi, Semenyih, Cheras, and Putrajaya catchments.

KUIS-to-UIS Upgrade History at Universiti Islam Selangor

The institutional history of Universiti Islam Selangor unfolds across three named phases over roughly 27 years.

The first phase opened on 15 February 1995 when Kolej Islam Selangor Darul Ehsan (KISDAR) was formally established by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council. KISDAR began operations in temporary quarters at the former SAMTAJ building in Shah Alam, with an initial programme spread anchored in the four classical Islamic studies disciplines: Dakwah (Islamic Outreach), Usuluddin (Islamic Theology), Syariah (Islamic Law), and Al-Quran and Al-Sunnah. The KISDAR-era student population was modest by contemporary standards, and the institution operated at the higher-education-college tier rather than degree-conferring tier.

The second phase opened on 31 December 2004 when KISDAR was upgraded to a university college and renamed Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor (KUIS). The university college status authorised KUIS to confer its own degrees, expand into postgraduate offerings, and add the “Antarabangsa” (International) designation that signalled an outward-looking orientation to international student intake from Indonesia, southern Thailand, and other Muslim-majority neighbours. By the close of the KUIS phase, the institution had grown to 5 faculties and a programme portfolio spanning Foundation through PhD.

The third phase opened on 14 October 2022 when KUIS was upgraded to full university status and renamed Universiti Islam Selangor. The upgrade ceremony, held at Istana Bukit Kayangan, saw Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah present the official upgrade instrument to the Higher Education Ministry’s Secretary-General, Abdul Razak Jaafar. The renaming dropped the “Antarabangsa” qualifier and the “Kolej Universiti” institutional grade, leaving the simpler and more authoritative “Universiti Islam Selangor” identity. The upgrade carries practical consequences: UIS now runs at the same institutional grade as established private universities such as the Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) and the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), with degree-conferring authority across Foundation through PhD levels and full institutional autonomy under MAIS governance.

The constancy across all three phases is the ownership structure: the Selangor Islamic Religious Council has been the sole sponsoring authority since 1995, and the Sultan of Selangor sits at the top of the religious-administrative chain that culminates in the chancellorship of the university.

Programmes at Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS)

Universiti Islam Selangor organises its 83 MQA-accredited programmes across 5 faculties spanning the classical Islamic disciplines and the contemporary professional programmes that have grown around them.

The Faculty of Syariah and Law (Fakulti Syariah & Undang-undang) runs the longest-established flagship: the Bachelor of Syariah with Muamalat (Honours), which integrates Islamic jurisprudence with Islamic commercial transactions. Master’s and PhD pathways extend the faculty offering into specialised research in Islamic family law, Islamic criminal law, Islamic commercial law, and comparative jurisprudence. The Faculty of Syariah and Law is the institutional anchor of UIS’s Islamic studies identity and the principal feeder into Syariah court practice and Islamic financial advisory roles.

The Faculty of Usuluddin (Fakulti Usuluddin) covers the foundational Islamic theology disciplines: Aqidah (creed), Tafsir (Quranic exegesis), Hadith studies, Dakwah (Islamic outreach), Quran and Sunnah, and the comparative study of religions. The faculty runs Bachelor, Master, and PhD programmes and serves as the primary source of Islamic religious teachers and dakwah practitioners.

The Faculty of Management and Muamalat (Fakulti Pengurusan dan Muamalat) runs the contemporary professional programmes that have driven UIS’s enrolment growth in the post-2010 period. Programmes include the Bachelor of Muamalat Management, Bachelor of Islamic Finance and Banking, Bachelor of Accounting, Bachelor of Human Resource Management, MBA in Islamic Finance, and Master of Islamic Banking and Finance. This faculty positions UIS within the wider Islamic finance education sector that includes INCEIF University at the postgraduate-only level and several conventional private universities offering Islamic finance majors.

The Faculty of Education and Social Sciences (Fakulti Pendidikan dan Sains Sosial) runs Bachelor of Education programmes specialised in Islamic education and early childhood education, Master of Education in curriculum design and Islamic education leadership, and PhD in education research. The faculty trains the next generation of teachers for Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan (SABK), Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA), and Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR) school networks across Malaysia.

The Faculty of Communication, Visual Arts and Computing (Fakulti Komunikasi, Seni Visual dan Pengkomputeran) handles the multimedia, broadcasting, communication, graphic design, and information technology programmes. This faculty signalled the deliberate move away from a purely religious-studies portfolio and into the contemporary creative and technology disciplines that mainstream private universities also serve. Programmes include Bachelor of Communication, Bachelor of Multimedia and Broadcasting, Bachelor of Information Technology, and Bachelor of Graphic Design.

Across all five faculties, UIS runs Foundation programmes (Asasi) for SPM and equivalent qualification holders, and Diploma programmes for sub-degree intake. The Foundation in Syariah and Foundation in Management programmes are the principal entry routes for students who do not yet meet direct Bachelor entry requirements.

Fees at Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS)

Universiti Islam Selangor publishes its fee schedules on a per-programme basis and revises them on the standard private-university calendar. UIS does not publish a consolidated headline fee figure equivalent to the per-year MBBS rate quoted by medical universities. Prospective students should request the current fee schedule directly from the UIS admissions office, particularly because the 2026 Selangor state budget has introduced a substantial subsidy that materially changes the effective cost for eligible Selangor students.

The 2026 Selangor State Budget, tabled in November 2025, announced that the Selangor state government will bear 50 percent of the tuition fees for 4,000 anak Selangor (children of Selangor) furthering their studies at Universiti Islam Selangor for the September 2026 intake. This is the most significant single fee intervention in UIS’s institutional history and reflects the state government’s strategic positioning of UIS as the higher education vehicle for Selangor’s Muslim youth. Eligibility is conditional on Selangor residency, registration into an eligible UIS programme for the September 2026 intake, and the documentation requirements set by the administering state agency.

The fee structure follows the standard Malaysian private university template. Foundation programmes sit at the lower end of the schedule, Diploma programmes mid-range, Bachelor programmes higher, and Master and PhD programmes priced separately on a per-credit or per-semester basis. Across the broad disciplinary spread, programmes that require laboratory or studio infrastructure (information technology, multimedia, broadcasting) tend to carry higher per-semester rates than the Islamic studies programmes that run primarily on classroom delivery.

Hostel accommodation, study materials, transport, and personal expenses are budgeted separately. The Bandar Seri Putra location is materially cheaper for off-campus rental than the inner Klang Valley, with single-room rentals in Bandar Seri Putra and surrounding Kajang typically running below RM 700 per month at 2026 levels.

International student fees and additional charges, including the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) student visa pass, are quoted on a separate schedule. The EMGS visa pass runs on its own processing window and is administered separately from UIS’s internal admissions decision.

For families weighing total cost of attendance, the practical calculation has shifted with the 2026 state subsidy. A Selangor family enrolling an eligible student in the September 2026 intake will see effective tuition reduced by half for that cohort, which sharpens UIS’s positioning relative to other private universities for Selangor-resident families. Prospective students should verify subsidy applicability programme by programme before drawing strong cost comparisons against other institutions.

Accreditation at Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS)

Universiti Islam Selangor is registered with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency under institution code IDAkrIPTS=79, listed as Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS) with the former name Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor (KUIS) in the institutional record. All 83 active programmes carry MQA full accreditation across Foundation, Diploma, Bachelor, Master, and PhD levels. The Malaysian Qualification Register (MQR) is the public verification source, accessible on the MQA website at mqa.gov.my, and is the authoritative record for any prospective employer, postgraduate admissions committee, or international credential evaluation service checking the recognition status of UIS qualifications.

For programmes leading to professional registration, additional sectoral recognition applies. The Bachelor of Education programmes are aligned with Ministry of Education teacher registration standards. The Bachelor of Islamic Finance and Banking and related Muamalat programmes feed into the Islamic financial services industry, where graduates pursue subsequent professional certifications such as the Chartered Islamic Finance Professional (CIFP) offered by INCEIF University and the Certified Shariah Advisor (CSA) certification offered by the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance Malaysia (ASAS).

The Faculty of Syariah and Law programmes feed into Syariah court practice in Malaysia. Graduates pursuing the Peguam Syarie (Syariah lawyer) practising certificate must complete the Syariah court attachment and the Sijil Peguam Syarie examination administered by the relevant state Islamic religious council. UIS is one of the recognised qualifying institutions whose Bachelor of Syariah graduates are eligible to sit the Selangor Sijil Peguam Syarie examination administered by MAIS itself.

Accreditation review cycles run on the MQA standard schedule. UIS maintains the institutional capacity to support accreditation continuity through its Pusat Jaminan Kualiti (Quality Assurance Centre), which manages internal programme review, external examiner appointment, and the documentation required for MQA periodic re-accreditation visits.

Admissions to Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS)

Universiti Islam Selangor operates on a primary September intake, with secondary intakes for selected Foundation and Diploma programmes earlier in the calendar year. The September 2026 intake carries particular significance because of the Selangor state subsidy programme.

Entry to Bachelor programmes typically requires STPM with the relevant subject passes, A-Level passes, an accepted Foundation completion (UIS Foundation or external), the Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) for Islamic studies pathways, or an equivalent Matrikulasi or Diploma qualification with the required CGPA. The Faculty of Syariah and Law and Faculty of Usuluddin programmes give weight to Arabic language proficiency, and applicants with STAM or Sijil Pelajaran Agama qualifications are well-positioned for the Islamic studies pathways.

Entry to Foundation programmes (Asasi) accepts SPM holders with the relevant subject passes for the chosen pathway. Foundation in Syariah, Foundation in Management, and Foundation in Science and Technology cover the principal Bachelor entry routes.

Entry to Diploma programmes accepts SPM holders with subject prerequisites at a slightly less competitive bar than Foundation, and provides a sub-degree qualification in three years that can articulate into Bachelor entry at Year 2 of the relevant Bachelor programme.

Entry to Master’s programmes requires a relevant Bachelor’s degree at the required CGPA, with Master by Research applicants required to identify a supervisor and submit a research proposal in advance. Some Master’s programmes are delivered by Coursework, others by Mixed Mode, and the Islamic finance and education programmes typically run on the Mixed Mode template.

Entry to PhD programmes requires a relevant Master’s qualification, supervisor identification within the relevant faculty, and a research proposal aligned with one of the active research clusters. PhD admissions run year-round on a rolling basis rather than the fixed semester intake template.

Application is processed through the Study@UIS portal at study.uis.edu.my, with the UIS website at uis.edu.my serving the institutional information and faculty pages. International applicants must complete the EMGS student visa pass process in parallel with the UIS admissions decision.

MAIS Heritage and Selangor Islamic Religious Council Stewardship at Universiti Islam Selangor

Universiti Islam Selangor is owned wholly by the Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS), the Selangor Islamic Religious Council. MAIS is the statutory religious authority of the state of Selangor, established under the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment, with constitutional standing as the body advising the Sultan of Selangor on Islamic affairs and administering Islamic religious endowments (waqf), charitable funds (baitulmal), and zakat collection within the state. UIS sits within the MAIS portfolio of religious institutions alongside the state masjid network, the Syariah judicial appointments, and the religious schools network.

The MAIS-as-sole-shareholder structure carries three institutional consequences that distinguish UIS from privately invested Malaysian universities.

First, the operating surplus of the university is constituted to be reinvested into the Islamic education mission rather than distributed to private shareholders. This aligns UIS’s economic logic more closely with non-profit private universities such as AIMST University (owned by the Maju Institute of Educational Development, the MIC’s education foundation) and Albukhary International University (a non-profit endowed institution) than with the for-profit private university sector.

Second, the Sultan of Selangor sits at the top of the institutional hierarchy through MAIS. The Chancellor (currently Tengku Permaisuri Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin) is appointed by the Sultan, the upgrade instrument from KUIS to UIS in October 2022 was presented by the Sultan in person, and the senior ceremonial appointments (Pro Chancellor I and Pro Chancellor II) are royal appointments. This makes UIS the most directly royal-linked private Islamic university in Malaysia, distinct from the federally appointed leadership of USIM and IIUM.

Third, the MAIS sponsorship gives UIS access to state-religious-administrative pathways that are not generally available to other private universities. The Bachelor of Syariah graduates’ eligibility to sit the Selangor Sijil Peguam Syarie examination is administered by MAIS itself, and the integration with the Selangor Syariah court system, the state masjid network, and the state Islamic schools network creates a structural placement pipeline for UIS graduates into Selangor-state Islamic religious roles.

The 2026 Selangor State Budget subsidy of 50 percent tuition for 4,000 anak Selangor at UIS for the September 2026 intake is the most concrete recent expression of the state-level commitment to the institution. The subsidy reinforces the institutional positioning of UIS as the higher education vehicle for Selangor’s Muslim youth and aligns the university more closely with the state government’s wider human capital strategy.

Comparison of Universiti Islam Selangor with USIM, IIUM, and KIAS

Prospective students considering Universiti Islam Selangor frequently weigh it against three reference institutions in the Malaysian Islamic higher education landscape: USIM, IIUM, and KIAS. The comparison clarifies the institutional positioning of UIS within the wider Malaysian Islamic university map.

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, is a federal public university funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, established in 1998 and granted full university status in 2007. USIM operates a comprehensive Islamic-studies-and-conventional-disciplines spread, including Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Syariah and Law. USIM tuition is heavily subsidised at public-university rates, accessible primarily through the UPU Online central admissions system. USIM is geographically the closest neighbour to UIS, approximately 30 km south of Bandar Seri Putra, and the two institutions overlap on the Islamic studies programme territory while diverging sharply on funding model and admission pathway.

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Gombak, Selangor, is a federal public university with international governance backed by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member states. IIUM was established in 1983 and operates the largest Islamic-medium university in Malaysia, with English and Arabic as medium of instruction, a comprehensive disciplinary spread including the Kulliyyah of Medicine and Kulliyyah of Engineering, and a substantial international student intake. IIUM tuition is subsidised at public-university rates for Malaysian students. IIUM operates at a different institutional scale and at a different governance level from UIS, with the OIC backing and the federal government sponsorship placing it in a distinct category from the state-religious-council-owned UIS.

Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Sultan Ismail Petra (KIAS) in Nilam Puri, Kelantan, is a university college owned by the Kelantan state government through the Yayasan Islam Kelantan and the Kelantan Islamic Religious Council. KIAS holds university college status and has not yet been upgraded to full university status. The institutional parallel between KIAS and the pre-2022 KUIS phase of UIS is direct: both are state-religious-council-linked Islamic university colleges, with KIAS now occupying the institutional grade that KUIS held prior to the October 2022 upgrade. UIS’s transition to full university status thus places it ahead of KIAS on the Malaysian Islamic higher education ladder while remaining institutionally analogous.

The four institutions occupy different combinations of three variables: governance (private/state-religious-council vs federal public vs OIC-international), institutional grade (university vs university college), and subsidy regime (public-rate vs private-rate, with the 2026 Selangor state subsidy partially closing the gap for UIS). For a Selangor Muslim student seeking an Islamic-studies-anchored Bachelor degree at a state-linked private institution with a Bandar Seri Putra address, UIS occupies a category of one. For students seeking the deepest Islamic studies portfolio at federal-public-rate fees, USIM and IIUM remain the comparator references.

Contact and Further Information for Universiti Islam Selangor (UIS)

Universiti Islam Selangor’s main campus is at Bandar Seri Putra, in the Bangi-Kajang corridor of Selangor. The official website is uis.edu.my for the Bahasa Melayu portal and en.uis.edu.my for the English portal. Programme information and the application portal are at study.uis.edu.my. Faculty-specific portals are linked from the main UIS website, with the Fakulti Syariah & Undang-undang portal at fsu.uis.edu.my serving the Syariah and Law programme information.

The university switchboard, admissions enquiries, and faculty office contacts are listed on the UIS Direktori page. Prospective students from Selangor pursuing the September 2026 intake should additionally check the Selangor state subsidy eligibility through the relevant Selangor state agency channels, as the 50 percent fee subsidy for 4,000 anak Selangor is administered separately from the standard UIS admissions process.

In summary: Universiti Islam Selangor is a private Islamic university in Bandar Seri Putra, Bangi, Selangor, owned wholly by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS), upgraded from Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor (KUIS) on 14 October 2022 by Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. UIS runs 5 faculties offering 83 MQA-accredited programmes from Foundation through PhD across Syariah, Usuluddin, Quran and Sunnah, Islamic finance, education, communication, and information technology, with Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin as the first Chancellor and a 2026 Selangor state subsidy of 50 percent tuition for 4,000 anak Selangor anchoring the September 2026 intake.