Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK)

About Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK)

Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, generally known by the acronym UNIRAZAK, is a private university in Kuala Lumpur. The institution was established on 18 December 1997 under the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 and is one of the first private universities to be set up in Malaysia following the liberalisation of the higher education sector that year. UNIRAZAK is named after Tun Abdul Razak bin Hussein (1922-1976), the second Prime Minister of Malaysia and the architect of the New Economic Policy.

The university is wholly owned by Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra (YPB), the Bumiputra investment foundation that also owns Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). This ownership structure makes UNIRAZAK the principal higher education vehicle of one of Malaysia’s largest Bumiputra investment institutions, and it ties the university’s institutional purpose explicitly to the economic-restructuring legacy of Tun Razak’s New Economic Policy. UNIRAZAK operates as a non-profit entity, with operating surplus reinvested into academic delivery rather than distributed to shareholders.

The current academic structure consists of four schools and one graduate school. The Bank Rakyat School of Business, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (BRSBITE) hosts the bulk of undergraduate business programmes. The School of Accounting and Taxation (SAT) runs accounting and Malaysian taxation degrees. The Tun Ahmad Sarji School of Government and Public Services (TASSGPS) is the centre of public policy teaching and research. The School of Education and Humanities (SEH) runs TESL and education programmes. The Tun Razak Graduate School coordinates the MBA suite, including campus-based, part-time, and fully online pathways.

UNIRAZAK has explicitly repositioned itself as a boutique university, narrowing its programme portfolio to areas where it has institutional strength and market demand, rather than expanding into a broad multi-faculty model. The boutique positioning is articulated by the institution as a deliberate strategy: business, government, taxation, and education only, run from a single Capital Square campus in central Kuala Lumpur, with no medical, engineering, or pharmacy programmes diluting the focus. Within the private universities sector, this specialisation places UNIRAZAK closer to graduate business schools internationally than to the general-purpose private universities that dominate the Klang Valley market.

Recognition for this approach has come through several federal awards. UNIRAZAK was named the Ministry of Education’s Entrepreneurial Private University of the Year in 2015, achieved a SETARA 5-Star institutional rating for the 2018/2019 cycle, and held a 4-star MyRA research rating in 2017. The institution carries SIRIM ISO 9001:2000 certification and MSC-status. The current and former Vice-Chancellor line includes Prof. Datuk Seri Dr. Md. Zabid Hj. Abdul Rashid, who served as President and Vice-Chancellor for an extended tenure during which much of the boutique repositioning was carried out. The Chancellor role has historically been filled by senior Malaysian public servants, with the late Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid, former Chief Secretary to the Government, serving in the role and lending his name to the School of Government and Public Services.

UNIRAZAK Location and Campus (Capital Square, Kuala Lumpur)

UNIRAZAK occupies Block C and Block D of Capital Square, a commercial development at No. 8, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, 50100 Kuala Lumpur. The Capital Square campus is in the heart of the Kuala Lumpur city centre, between the Golden Triangle and the central business district. The location is sometimes presented as UNIRAZAK@CapSquare in institutional branding and is the consolidation point for what was previously a multi-campus operation.

Capital Square places UNIRAZAK within walking distance of Bandaraya LRT station on the Ampang Line and Sultan Ismail LRT station on the Kelana Jaya Line. The campus is a short drive from KL Sentral, the principal interchange for the KTM Komuter, KLIA Ekspres, MRT Kajang Line, MRT Putrajaya Line, and Monorail networks. International students arriving via Kuala Lumpur International Airport reach Capital Square in roughly an hour by KLIA Ekspres plus connecting LRT, or 45 minutes by car outside peak hours.

The campus footprint is vertical and urban rather than the green-field layout typical of suburban Malaysian private universities. Block C and Block D house lecture theatres, seminar rooms, faculty offices, the central library, computer labs, and student services. The location is closer in character to a downtown graduate business school than to the integrated residential campuses of UTAR Kampar or UNITEN Putrajaya, and the boutique positioning is partly a function of this urban footprint: UNIRAZAK delivers what fits within its city-centre square footage and runs that depth well.

The central Kuala Lumpur location has practical consequences for the student profile. UNIRAZAK draws a substantial mid-career and working-professional cohort, particularly into the MBA, Master of Public Policy, and accounting and taxation programmes, who can attend evening and weekend classes after office hours without committing to a suburban relocation. The location also places students within direct interview and internship range of the federal ministries in Putrajaya, the Bursa Malaysia listed-company headquarters in central Kuala Lumpur, the Big Four accounting firms, and the major banks, which feeds directly into the institution’s specialty placement pipeline.

For Malaysian undergraduate students living away from home, accommodation is sourced from the surrounding Chow Kit, Kampung Baru, and KLCC neighbourhoods rather than from a campus hostel system. This is a meaningful difference from suburban private universities that bundle hostel pricing into the published total cost. UNIRAZAK does not run a residential hostel campus, and accommodation costs are entirely separated from tuition.

UNIRAZAK Schools and Programmes

UNIRAZAK organises its academic delivery across four schools at the bachelor and undergraduate level, plus the Tun Razak Graduate School at the postgraduate level. Each school maps to one of the institution’s specialty areas, and the boutique strategy means there is no overlap or redundancy between the schools.

The Bank Rakyat School of Business, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (BRSBITE) is the largest of the four schools and the institutional inheritor of the Bank Rakyat heritage. The school was previously named the Bank Rakyat School of Business and Entrepreneurship (BRSBE) and was renamed in line with a portfolio expansion into innovation and technology. Programmes include the Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Banking and Finance, Bachelor of Marketing, Bachelor of Management (Honours) delivered with partner colleges including IEG Campus, and the Bachelor of Entrepreneurship. Bank Rakyat itself, the cooperative bank, is among the historical sponsorship partners of the school.

The School of Accounting and Taxation (SAT) runs the Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) and a dedicated bachelor stream in Malaysian taxation. This is one of the few dedicated tax-focused undergraduate programmes in the country, distinguishing UNIRAZAK from the general accounting programmes offered at most other private universities. Graduates can pursue dual qualification pathways with professional bodies including the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia (CTIM), and the international accounting professional bodies.

The Tun Ahmad Sarji School of Government and Public Services (TASSGPS) is the institution’s public policy centre, named in honour of the late Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid, former Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia, who served as UNIRAZAK Chancellor. TASSGPS runs the Master of Public Policy as its flagship programme, alongside related undergraduate offerings. The school is positioned as the leading centre for the study of public policy among Malaysian private universities, drawing students from federal and state civil-service career tracks and from government-linked corporations.

The School of Education and Humanities (SEH) runs TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) and education programmes for the schoolteacher market. SEH is the smallest of the four schools by enrolment but provides the institutional bridge between UNIRAZAK and the Ministry of Education’s school-system workforce.

The Tun Razak Graduate School is the cross-cutting postgraduate vehicle and runs the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Management, Master of Human Resource Management, and selected doctoral and DBA programmes. The MBA is offered in 1-year and 2-year tracks and across full-time, part-time, and fully online delivery modes, broadening access for mid-career professionals who cannot relocate to Capital Square. Online delivery is administered through unirazakpostgraduate.com.

UNIRAZAK Fees and Tuition

UNIRAZAK publishes fees on the institutional website and through the postgraduate portal, with the same schedule applied to Malaysian and international students at the postgraduate level. Boutique positioning has translated into accessible fee points for the MBA in particular, where UNIRAZAK is among the lower-priced fully MQA-accredited MBA providers in Kuala Lumpur.

Programme	Total Fee (RM)	Mode
MBA (1-year)	15,900	Full-time, online
MBA (2-year)	18,250	Part-time
Online MBA	15,900	Distance learning
Master of Public Policy	Quoted on application	Part-time
Bachelor of Accounting (Hons)	Quoted on application	Full-time
Bachelor of Business Administration	Quoted on application	Full-time
Bachelor of Management (Hons)	Quoted on application	Full-time, partner-delivered

The 1-year MBA at RM 15,900 in total programme cost is competitive against other MQA-accredited MBA programmes in the Klang Valley, which typically run between RM 25,000 and RM 60,000 in total programme cost depending on institution and delivery format. The 2-year MBA at RM 18,250 is structured for working professionals and accommodates a longer payment plan. Both MBA tracks carry JPA recognition for civil-service career progression and are accepted on the federal Public Service Department’s qualification register.

For undergraduate programmes, UNIRAZAK quotes individual programme fees on application via the admissions office. Bachelor programmes typically run between RM 30,000 and RM 50,000 in total programme cost across the three to four-year duration, broadly aligned with mid-tier Klang Valley private universities. Students are encouraged to confirm current fees at the time of application as the institution updates the schedule annually.

UNIRAZAK accepts the standard Malaysian student funding pathways, including PTPTN study loans, JPA scholarships, Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra scholarships through the parent foundation, and selected employer-sponsored study programmes for civil servants and Bank Rakyat staff. Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra scholarship pathways are unique to UNIRAZAK among Malaysian private universities and reflect the proprietary relationship with the parent foundation. Prospective students should request the current scholarship schedule from the admissions office.

All tuition fees are exclusive of registration, examination, and graduation fees, which are billed separately. Online MBA students should also budget for technology access and any optional residential workshops included in the programme structure.

UNIRAZAK Accreditation and MQA Recognition

UNIRAZAK is registered with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and is listed in the MQA Register of Higher Education Providers under both its current designation and its historical designation as Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (PINTAR Campus). The Register entry confirms institutional status as a private university operating under the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996.

Individual programmes hold their own MQA full accreditation. The Master of Business Administration carries full MQA accreditation and is recognised by the Public Service Department (JPA) for civil-service salary scale upgrades, an important credential for mid-career civil servants and government-linked-company staff considering the qualification. The Master of Public Policy at the Tun Ahmad Sarji School of Government and Public Services holds full MQA accreditation. The Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) and the Bachelor of Management (Hons) are MQA-accredited under their respective programme codes.

At the institutional level, UNIRAZAK was awarded the SETARA 5-Star rating in the 2018/2019 cycle. SETARA is the Ministry of Higher Education’s institutional teaching-and-learning quality benchmark, with 6-star as the maximum tier. A 5-Star outcome places UNIRAZAK in the upper tier of Malaysian private universities for institutional teaching quality. The university also held a 4-Star MyRA rating in 2017, the Ministry’s research-output ranking, reflecting the institutional research footprint at that point.

In addition to the MQA framework, UNIRAZAK qualifications are recognised by World Education Services (WES) for credential evaluation in North America, by relevant international accounting professional bodies for the accounting and taxation degrees, and by the Public Service Department for civil-service appointment and progression. The university has held Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status, indicating compliance with the federal MSC framework for technology-enabled education delivery, and SIRIM ISO 9001:2000 certification for institutional quality management.

The Ministry of Education’s Entrepreneurial Private University of the Year award, presented to UNIRAZAK in 2015, recognised the institution’s specialty positioning in business, entrepreneurship, and government studies. The award is granted to the private university best executing the entrepreneurial-teaching mission set out by the Ministry’s Higher Education Blueprint, and UNIRAZAK was the inaugural recipient of the recognition.

UNIRAZAK Admissions

UNIRAZAK runs three intakes annually for most undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, typically in February, May or June, and September or October, with the MBA cohorts running on a more frequent rolling basis to accommodate working-professional intake.

Entry to Bachelor programmes at the Bank Rakyat School of Business, the School of Accounting and Taxation, the Tun Ahmad Sarji School of Government and Public Services, and the School of Education and Humanities is open to applicants with STPM passes in two or three relevant subjects, A-Level passes in two relevant subjects, the AIMST or UNIRAZAK Foundation programmes, the Matrikulasi qualification at the required CGPA, a Diploma in a related discipline, or an equivalent recognised pre-university qualification. The Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) carries additional mathematics and accounting subject prerequisites at SPM and pre-university level.

Entry to MBA programmes through the Tun Razak Graduate School requires either a recognised bachelor’s degree with a CGPA of 2.50 or above in a relevant discipline, or a bachelor’s degree with relevant work experience for applicants below that CGPA threshold. Working-experience pathways accommodate mid-career applicants whose professional trajectory exceeds their academic credentials. Both routes are aligned with MQA Postgraduate Admission Standards.

Entry to the Master of Public Policy at TASSGPS requires a bachelor’s degree from a recognised institution and is open to civil servants, government-linked-corporation staff, and private-sector applicants with public policy interest. The programme is structured part-time around evening and weekend delivery to accommodate civil-service work patterns.

International applicants must also satisfy the English language requirement of IELTS 5.5 or 6.0 depending on programme, or TOEFL equivalent, or a recognised English-medium pre-university qualification. International students apply through the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) student visa pass system, which is administered separately from UNIRAZAK’s internal admissions decision and runs on its own processing window.

Application contact: admissions are managed through info@unirazak.edu.my and the main switchboard at +603-7627 7000. The institutional website is unirazak.edu.my, and the postgraduate portal is unirazakpostgraduate.com. Working students are advised to apply at least eight weeks before the intended intake start date to allow for document verification, EMGS processing where applicable, and registration logistics.

UNIRAZAK Specialty in Business, Tax, and Public Policy

UNIRAZAK’s institutional positioning rests on three specialty areas, each tied to a school within the boutique structure. The first is business and entrepreneurship, taught through the Bank Rakyat School of Business, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship. The second is accounting and Malaysian taxation, delivered through the dedicated School of Accounting and Taxation. The third is government and public policy, hosted at the Tun Ahmad Sarji School of Government and Public Services.

The business specialty has historical depth through the Bank Rakyat sponsorship and the early founding-era focus on business administration and management. The school runs undergraduate degrees across business administration, banking and finance, marketing, management, and entrepreneurship, with a graduate-school progression pathway through the MBA at Tun Razak Graduate School. The Entrepreneurial Private University of the Year award from the Ministry of Education in 2015 recognised the throughput of this specialty.

The taxation specialty is unusual at the undergraduate level. Most Malaysian private universities offer accounting as a single unified discipline; UNIRAZAK’s School of Accounting and Taxation runs a dedicated taxation programme alongside the standard accounting bachelor, addressing a Malaysian tax profession that has its own statutory body in the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia. The institutional positioning around taxation reflects an early identification of the gap in Malaysian tertiary education for tax-specialist undergraduate training, predating the broader accounting-and-tax convergence visible at competitor institutions in the past decade.

The public policy specialty is institutionally distinct. The Tun Ahmad Sarji School of Government and Public Services positions itself explicitly as the leading centre for the study of public policy in the private university sector, with the Master of Public Policy as the flagship programme. The school’s identity is anchored by the late Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid, who served as Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia from 1990 to 1996 and subsequently as UNIRAZAK Chancellor. His name attached to the school reflects the institutional pedigree linking UNIRAZAK to the senior civil-service tradition. The Master of Public Policy draws civil-service applicants who would otherwise pursue overseas equivalents at the Lee Kuan Yew School in Singapore, the Kennedy School at Harvard, or the Blavatnik School at Oxford, and offers a Malaysia-anchored alternative at materially lower cost.

The boutique positioning of UNIRAZAK pulls these three specialty areas together under a single institutional brand. The argument is that depth across business, tax, and government, delivered from a central Kuala Lumpur urban campus with a single owner-foundation backing, is more useful to working professionals and government-linked applicants than breadth across medicine, engineering, and pharmacy delivered from a suburban site.

How UNIRAZAK Compares to Other Bumiputra-Owned Private Universities (UTAR, UNITAR)

UNIRAZAK is one of three Malaysian private universities established in the 1990s under non-commercial foundation ownership, alongside UTAR and UNITAR. The three institutions share a foundation-ownership model rather than commercial education-group ownership, but differ in scale, discipline focus, and operational style.

UTAR (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman) was founded in 2002 by the UTAR Education Foundation, which is affiliated with the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA). UTAR runs nine campuses across Kampar, Sungai Long, and other locations, with a wide faculty structure spanning medicine, dentistry, engineering, business, accountancy, information and communication technology, science, social sciences, education, and Chinese studies. UTAR enrols more than 25,000 students, making it the largest of the three by enrolment by a wide margin. The institutional identity is mass-market, full-spectrum, and oriented toward broad community access.

UNITAR International University was founded in 1997 and acquired by Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (EKUINAS), a federal Bumiputra government-linked private equity firm, in 2010. UNITAR runs five campuses across Kelana Jaya, Johor Bahru, Sabah, and other locations with about 8,000 students, and operates a multi-faculty structure covering business, ICT, education, hospitality, social sciences, and graduate studies. UNITAR’s positioning is mid-market private university with significant TVET and online delivery, broader than UNIRAZAK but narrower than UTAR.

UNIRAZAK is the smallest of the three by enrolment. It runs a single Capital Square campus and concentrates on four schools across business, accounting and taxation, government and public policy, and education only. There is no medical, dental, engineering, ICT, or pharmacy faculty. The boutique positioning is a deliberate narrowing rather than a constraint on capacity. UNIRAZAK’s owner is Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra, the same parent foundation behind Permodalan Nasional Berhad, giving it a different institutional politics from UTAR (MCA heritage via a community-education foundation) and UNITAR (EKUINAS, a Bumiputra private equity vehicle with a return-on-capital mandate).

For prospective students, the three institutions occupy distinct market niches. UTAR is for applicants seeking full multi-faculty coverage at affordable fees in Kampar or Sungai Long. UNITAR is for applicants seeking a mid-market multi-campus private university with strong online and distance offerings. UNIRAZAK is for applicants who specifically want business, taxation, government, or education and who value a central Kuala Lumpur location and a small institutional scale over breadth of programme offering. The three are complementary rather than direct competitors, and the choice typically resolves at the discipline level before the institutional level.

UNIRAZAK Contact and Practical Information

UNIRAZAK’s main campus address is Capital Square, Block C and Block D, No. 8, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, 50100 Kuala Lumpur. The main switchboard is +603-7627 7000 and the institutional website is unirazak.edu.my. Postgraduate enquiries route through unirazakpostgraduate.com, which hosts the MBA programme information, online MBA delivery details, and direct application forms.

For undergraduate admissions, applicants should email info@unirazak.edu.my or contact the admissions team through the main switchboard. For postgraduate admissions, including the MBA suite and Master of Public Policy, the postgraduate portal is the primary channel. International applicants should also route through Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) for the student visa pass, which is administered separately from UNIRAZAK’s internal admissions decision and requires its own processing window of approximately three months.

The Capital Square campus is operated Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, with Saturday morning hours for selected administrative offices. Class schedules for the MBA, Master of Public Policy, and other postgraduate programmes typically run on weekday evenings and weekends to accommodate the working-professional cohort that forms the bulk of postgraduate enrolment.

Within Kuala Lumpur, UNIRAZAK is one of several private universities operating from urban downtown campuses, alongside Open University Malaysia, HELP University, and selected branch operations. Its single-campus boutique positioning places it closer in operational character to a downtown graduate business school than to the multi-faculty private universities operating from suburban sites in Cyberjaya, Subang Jaya, or Bandar Sunway.

To close: Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) is a private boutique business and government university at Capital Square, Kuala Lumpur, founded on 18 December 1997, owned by Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra, named after Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, running four academic schools across business, accounting and taxation, government and public policy, and education, with the 1-year MBA priced at RM 15,900 and the institution recognised at SETARA 5-Star and Entrepreneurial Private University of the Year tier.