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Education
University, Open University of Hong Kong, Tung Wah College and the VTC's Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong. Together with providers offering locally accredited sub-degree programmes, there are around 30 post-secondary institutions.
In 2016-17, the UGC-funded universities and the HKAPA together provided around 15,170 publicly funded, first-year-first-degree intake places, while self-financing undergraduate programmes offered about 10,340 places. The UGC-funded universities and the self-financing, degree-awarding institutions also provided around 4,600 senior-year undergraduate places and 11,500 top-up degree places respectively for sub-degree graduates and students with other qualifications. At the sub-degree level, around 23,200 and 11,000 intake places were available respectively for self-financing and publicly funded sub-degree programmes.
Increasing Post-secondary Education Opportunities
The government promotes the sustainable development of the self-financing post-secondary sector through a basket of support measures, including providing land and premises at nominal premium and rent, interest-free start-up loans, the $3.52 billion Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund, student finance and quality assurance subsidies.
As at the end of 2016, around $7.3 billion of start-up loans to post-secondary institutions out of a total $9 billion commitment had been approved. In the 2015-16 academic year, $76.8 million in scholarships were awarded under the Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund to 4,563 recipients and grants totalling more than $47 million were approved for 12 projects under the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme.
The number of publicly funded undergraduate places available at UGC-funded universities for sub-degree graduates to enter in the third year is being increased by 1,000 between 2015-16 and 2018-19. This will offer more opportunities for such students to obtain publicly funded degree education and foster a flexible multiple-entry post-secondary education framework.
On a pilot basis starting from 2015-16, the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/ Sectors subsidises around 1,000 students per year to pursue designated full-time, locally accredited self-financing undergraduate programmes in selected disciplines.
Governance of Post-secondary Institutions
All UGC-funded universities, the Open University and the HKAPA are statutory bodies governed by their own ordinances. Approved post-secondary colleges are governed by the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance. Each post-secondary institution has its own structure of governance, normally including a governing body, called the council or board of governors, and a body to regulate academic affairs, called the senate or academic board. As at December 2016, nine approved post-secondary colleges were registered under the ordinance: the Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Centennial College, Chu Hai College of Higher Education, Gratia Christian College, Hang Seng Management College, Hong Kong College of Technology Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong Nang Yan College of Higher Education, Shue Yan University and Tung Wah College.
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