Before 1974-75 different fees were charged at the two universities and between
and between faculties. In 1973-74, fees were as follows :-
HKU CUHK
Arts based
1,100 800
Science based
$
1,560
1,050
by UPGC and the Accordingly a The principle between the
This practice was considered undesirable vice-chancellors could see no merit in it. single uniform fee was introduced in 1974-75. of uniform fees was re-affirmed in a meeting Governor, the two Vice-Chancellors and the HKP Director June 1977.
in
19
There are many practical difficulties in charging differential fees. Based on the unit costs for 1984-85 estimated by UPGC in its grant recommendations for the 1985-88 triennium, and assuming that the fee level is set at 10% of total recurrent costs, the annual tuition fees for comparable faculties at the two Universities would be as follows :-
Arts
Education
Social Sciences
Science
Engineering
Architecture
Medicine
HKU
CUHK
$
$
6.294
4.625
>
>
5,830
4.451
5,580
4,645
9,674
7,110
7,066
>
6,932
14,726
Allowing for the different
universities, the
total total cost
course to the
faculties
lengths
at the two
student of courses in
However costs
similar faculties is approximately the same. vary greatly between
and
differential, For example,
cost-related fees would vary significantly. the fee for the Medical course would be some 212% that for architecture. These differences could lead to some students choosing courses according to costs. This could affect the supply of manpower in some of the higher-cost specialities which would require very high fees.
20
In the sample countries used for comparative purposes in paragraph 11 above, uniform fees are applied to home students in UK and Korea, whereas Singapore and Canada apply differential fees. As the UK fee recovery practice is being recommended, the UK practice on differential fees is also regarded as appropriate to Hong Kong. For this reason,