Hong Kong universities ranked highly but lack international students
Hong Kong's universities are ranked highly but they lack international students. A chronic shortage of hostel beds is a major drawback
Hong Kong's elite universities are basking in global recognition. But despite high rankings for outstanding teaching and research, one thing is lacking on the campuses of Asia's "World City" - truly international students.
The University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology were No23 and 33 respectively in last year's QS World University Rankings, and ranked among the world's top 100 institutions together with Chinese University in the latest Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings.
And HKU went from No39 in the world to No36 in an international reputation survey involving global scholars.
However, statistics from the University Grants Committee - the government's higher education funding body - show that while the proportion of students enrolling at local universities who were not local was 14 per cent for the 2011-12 academic year, eight out of 10 came from the mainland.
Academics agree that bringing in more international students benefits the city and the institutions, as well as both local and non-local students.
In 2010, the grants body urged the higher education sector to embrace internationalisation and called for more collaboration between the government and universities. It also urged institutions to help non-local students integrate into campus life, increase high quality exchange opportunities and recruitment from abroad.