Hong Kong Public Universities to Increase Tuition Fees After Over 20-Year Freeze

Students at public universities in Hong Kong will soon have to pay more in tuition. According to local media reports, after being frozen for more than a year, tuition fees will rise starting in the 2025/26 academic year.

Tuition at eight public universities in Hong Kong will increase by about 5 to 9 percent annually for the next three years, Erudera.com reports.

Hong Kong Free Press reports that the annual tuition for programs sponsored by the University Grants Committee (UGC) stands at HK$42,100 at the moment. This fee has remained the same since the 1997/98 academic year. The government said it will reach HK$49,500 in 2027, which means a17.6 percent increase.

Some students are optimistic it will be manageable, however, they are at the same time aware it will burden their finances because they will have to pay extra thousands for their education.

Earlier this year, the University Grants Committee unveiled some plans to invest about HK$30 million (US$3.83m) in Hong Kong’s internationalization, specifically to attract more international students in the next four years.

Data from the committee showed that the highest number of international students in Hong Kong hail from China. The South China Morning Post reported that there are than 10,000 international undergraduates from China enrolled at eight Hong Kong universities, making up 70 percent of the total undergraduate student population.

Hong Kong universities are ranked among the world’s top institutions. According to the US News & World Report global rankings, four Hong Kong universities have been included in the world’s top 100 institutions list.

With a total enrollment of 18,290 students, the Chinese University of Hong Kong is the 42nd best university in the world, followed by the University of Hong Kong in the 44th position, which has a total of 18,103 students.

The two universities are home to thousands of international students, with 4,509 enrolled at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and 7,839 at the University of Hong Kong.

Two other universities ranked in the top 100 world universities are Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which ranked 67th and City University of Hong Kong, which is 79th on the global ranking list.

Additionally, the Hong Kong government has also mentioned plans to provide more student housing by 2027.

© Jason W | Unsplash

Read Also:

>> Chinese University of Hong Kong Launches AI Chatbot to Support Student Mental Health