Introduction
The National University of Singapore Faculty of Law (NUS Law) is Singapore’s oldest and largest law school. The faculty was initially established as a Department of Law in the then the University of Malaya in 1956, with its first batch of students matriculating the following year. Subsequently, it served as Singapore’s only law school for half a century, until the establishment of the SMU School of Law in 2007 and subsequently SUSS School of Law in 2017.
The current dean is Simon Chesterman Address: 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd, Singapore 119077 Undergraduate tuition and fees: 38,200 SGD (2018 – 19) Endowment: S$4.07 billion (2018); ≈ US$ 2.8 billion Students: 35,908 (2018) The roots of the Faculty of Law lie in the establishment of the Department of Law in the then the University of Malaya in 1956.
The first law students were admitted to the Bukit Timah campus of the University in 1957. In 1959, the Department attained Faculty status with Professor Lionel Astor (“Lee”) Sheridan serving as the founding dean. The pioneer class of law students graduated in 1961, counting among its most illustrious members Professor Tommy Koh (Ambassador-at-Large and former Dean), former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, former Dean Thio Su-Mien, and Emeritus Professor Koh Kheng Lian.
In the early 1960s, the governments of Singapore and Malaya announced their desire for the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur divisions of the University of Malaya to become autonomous national universities in their respective territories. Thus, on 1 January 1962, the University of Singapore was born. Singapore was admitted to the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.
The union lasted until 9 August 1965, when Singapore became an independent republic. Throughout this period and thereafter, the Faculty of Law continued to flourish as part of the University of Singapore. In 1980, the University of Singapore and Nanyang University (Nantah) were merged to form the National University of Singapore (NUS). With that, the Faculty of Law became part of the modern NUS, simultaneously moving to its new Kent Ridge campus.
A quarter-century later, it was announced that the Bukit Timah campus would be returned to NUS. The Faculty of Law, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and several research institutes made the move from Kent Ridgeback to the hallowed grounds of Bukit Timah, opening its doors there once again on 17 July 2006.
Programs offered
Undergraduates
4-year LLB program 3-year graduate LLB
- A double degree program in Business Administration and Law.
- A double degree program in economics and law.
- A double degree program in law and life sciences.
- A double degree program at Yale-NUS B.A Hons.
- A current degree program in Law and Public Policy Law and university scholar program Law and U-town college program.
Graduate programs
Graduate programs Research degrees Course work diplomas
Student life at NUS
The great diversity of our campus community creates a unique and energizing learning environment. Our modern self-contained campus offers a vibrant, invigorating and inspiring lifestyle that transcends the lecture hall. No matter what your interests are – sports, theatre, music and chilling out – we have something to please you.
