Jesuits to charge HK$250,000 for college tuition
The Jesuits' first university in China could also have Hong Kong's highest tuition fees at HK$250,000 a year.
The figure was announced by the Society of Jesus, which plans to open a liberal arts college for 300 students at a former military camp in Fanling in 2015.
While the fees are less than those charged by private universities in America, they dwarf the HK$42,000 annual fees at local government-funded universities.
They are also higher than the HK$92,000 charged by Centennial College, a private institution recently set up by the University of Hong Kong.
Ronald Anton, who is spearheading the Jesuits' university-building effort, said the Catholic order had already committed HK$20 million to the plan. Raising funds had been hard, he said, because the college had neither a site nor accredited classes.
Anton said he did not believe the fees would make it difficult for the university to recruit 300 students before it opens its doors.
'It is much cheaper than sending students to the United States to study similar courses,' he said.
(A leading private liberal arts university in the United States, Williams College in Massachusetts, charges tuition fees of US$43,000 (HK$334,000) a year.)
Anton added: 'After all, scholarships will be provided to students with great academic performance, but who cannot afford the tuition.'
The Jesuits, who announced their plans last year, are among nine educational institutions seeking to acquire the former military camp site in Fanling, says the Education Bureau, which has yet to announce which of them has won the bidding.
