THERE were 16,991 foreign students in public universities as at September, Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung said yesterday.

Of the number, 11,376 were undergraduates while the rest were postgraduate students.

"Public higher learning institutions are given the right to set their own criteria for international student enrolments," he said when replying to a question by Dr Che Rosli Che Mat (Pas-Hulu Langat).

He said most of the students were paying their own way or were on scholarships from their countries.

However, there were 101 students sponsored by the Malaysian government through the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme Scholarship, Commonwealth Scholarship and Malaysian International Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies.
Hou said the number of foreigners should not exceed five per cent of the student population of a public university.

"Their presence in these institutions is one of the criteria that can influence rankings, especially in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings."