Taking the plunge to go back to school after several years in the professional arena can be a daunting prospect, and the considerable costs involved can make it all the more intimidating. But for the canny postgraduate who knows where to look, there is funding available to sweeten the bitter financial pill.
Local government funding might not foot all your bills, but it is a possible to find other sources of assistance that will, in some cases, meet all of your study fees plus living and travel costs.
Hunting down and securing funding can be as much work as finding the right course - if not more - so it is vital to start planning as early as possible and spend the time it takes to research all possible avenues.
The Continuing Education Fund allows eligible candidates to claim back 80 per cent of fees paid, up to a maximum of HK$10,000.
Since 2003 it has been available to university graduates and a limited number of master's courses are now included on the list of recognised courses. Although the fund is never going to be able to pay a postgraduate's entire fees, financial assistance should never be sniffed at, as any cash-strapped student knows.
Nevertheless, there are many other cash pools available, particularly for those planning to study overseas. A Google search of the word 'scholarship' brings up around 44.9 million hits. The internationalscholarships.com website has more than 1,200 awards listed on its database.
The Home Affairs Bureau's website has a list of almost a dozen local trust funds which provide assistance for further studies. This includes charities such as the Sir Robert Black Trust Fund, the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund, and the Li Po Chun Charitable Trust Fund, which regularly support postgraduate students studying both locally and overseas.