UTM Welcomes 4,506 New Students For 2026/2027 Academic Session

JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has enrolled 4,506 new students in full-time undergraduate programmes for the 2026/2027 academic session.

UTM vice-chancellor Professor Dr Mohd Shafry Mohd Rahim said 4,088 students registered at the Johor Bahru campus and 418 at the Kuala Lumpur campus, of whom 4,328 are Malaysians.

He said the Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying has the largest intake at 771 students, followed by the Faculty of Science with 511 and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering with 503, indicating sustained interest in science, engineering and technology.

“University admission is not simply about providing access to higher education, but marks the start of developing students into knowledgeable, thoughtful and well-rounded individuals.

“Therefore, talent development must go hand in hand with character building to ensure that the excellence achieved ultimately benefits society,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Shafry said UTM has increased its undergraduate intake by about 500 places this year, including the first intake of 55 students for the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the campus here, resulting in an approximately 12 per cent increase in the student population.

“In addition to the Faculty of AI, we have added sections for the Data Engineering and Accounting programmes and introduced new programmes in Data Science and Business Analytics,” he said at a press conference after the university’s new student registration here today.

Mohd Shafry said the 55 students admitted to the Faculty of AI at the Johor Bahru campus formed its first cohort, in line with the university’s efforts to support the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) by developing highly skilled talent, adding that UTM is also exploring opportunities to collaborate with international companies to strengthen technology capabilities in the JS-SEZ.

It is also working with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) on a strategic project to develop a Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) at UTM’s Technovation Park.

“This is among the strategic projects that are expected to be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim or Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said UTM students are allowed to use AI in their studies, but only for up to 20 per cent of their work, with the remaining 80 per cent requiring independent thinking.

“They have access to all the AI facilities we provide, including the High Performance Computing system launched yesterday, which they can access from anywhere to work on projects and assignments.

“However, if we find that their assignments rely too heavily on AI, we will ask them to revise their work in line with the requirements and guidelines set,” he said, adding that the university can detect how assignments are produced.

Mohd Shafry said UTM continues to strengthen ties with industry and international companies from the early stages of students’ studies, particularly in their second or third year, to enhance graduates' employability.

Meanwhile, he said UTM remains committed to providing various forms of assistance to ease students’ cost-of-living burden, including its RM5 meal initiative and special aid for 1,200 students from B40 families through its endowment fund, zakat, UTM Foundation and Ziarah Kasih programme.

-- BERNAMA