At a press conference today, MCA president Wee Ka Siong pointed out that several public universities have followed Universiti Malaya’s lead in offering two enrolment options for undergraduate students – through the UPUOnline system managed by the higher education ministry, and an alternative open channel.

Wee said UM introduced the open channel in 2018 through its “Satu” pathway as a strategy to increase revenue and strengthen its financial sustainability.

He said students enrolled through the public universities’ open channels are offered “priority access”, but need to pay the full tuition fees charged.

Some public universities, he said, charge prices as high as their private counterparts for the same courses, making education even more inaccessible for the lower-class.

“If that’s the case, then what is the point of Parliament approving the operating expenses of these public universities?” he said.

Wee said many of these universities openly advertise this alternative route as an “easier” means of admission compared to the more competitive UPUOnline system, which is unfair to B40 and M40 students who cannot afford it.

About 19% to 40% of placements in public universities are now allocated to students who apply through the open channel, he said.

On Tuesday, MCA called for a suspension of UM’s Satu intake for the 2025/2026 session until the higher education ministry reviews its admissions mechanism, following claims of structural inequality.

The party released a position paper on the matter, in which it said the apparent selectiveness in UM’s student admissions raised questions about meritocracy in the process.