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Linda Yeung

Places on graduate programmes at universities in Hong Kong are increasingly being filled by mainlanders, who are flooding popular courses with applications.
Some 99 per cent of students enrolled in Chinese University's Master of Science in finance are from the mainland. There were 2,000 applications for the most recent intake of the programme, which costs HK$220,000.
Of the students taking City University's Master of Science in applied economics, 80 per cent are from the mainland.
Local enrolment is also on the decline for Baptist University's Master of Arts in communication course. This year there were 1,500 applications, mostly from the mainland, for about 150 places.
Programme director Steve Guo said: "There has been a rapid increase in the number of applications from the mainland."
Asked to explain why, he said: "Tuition here is relatively cheap compared to Australia, the UK and the US. Both Hong Kong and China also have similar cultures."
Academic reputation aside, the city's proximity to the mainland and status as a free, cosmopolitan city are attractive factors. Another draw is that non-local graduates can stay in the city for one year to look for work and stand to gain permanent residency after seven years.
"It is a cheaper way of gaining permanent residency than coming here through the government's capital investment entrant scheme," said Guo.
Mainland students make up the vast majority of research postgraduate students in the city, numbering 4,586 in 2012-2013, up from 4,298 in 2011-2012, out of a total of fewer than 7,000, University Grants Committee figures show. While it is common for working professionals in Hong Kong to pursue a master's degree, the majority are drawn to one-year, full-time or two-year, part-time, coursework-based programmes that focus on practical disciplines, with few drawn to research degrees leading to a PhD.
That has to do with the practical mindset of the city, academics say. The bleak job prospects at local universities for locally trained PhD holders also discourage graduates from furthering their studies in Hong Kong.
Legislator Ip Kin-yuen, who represents the education constituency, has urged the government to provide incentives for students to pursue research-oriented studies. "This is important for the growth of a knowledge economy. [The government] should consider offering scholarships targeting local students. Many scholarships have been snapped up by mainlanders. We should nurture more local talent."
But another legislator, Dr Kenneth Chan Ka-lok, an associate professor in Baptist University's department of government and international studies, supports the idea of the academically minded going abroad.
"They can then return to strengthen local institutions."


Chinese students flood Hong Kong universities' graduate programmes

Some 99 per cent of students enrolled in Chinese University's Master of Science in finance are from the mainland.

News

Hong Kong

Proximity, good value and chance to obtain residency seen as reasons so many study in city


Places on graduate programmes at universities in Hong Kong are increasingly being filled by mainlanders, who are flooding popular courses with applications.
