HONGKONG students now need to spend only four years studying overseas to get both a two-year diploma and a four-year degree certificate. The University College of Fraser Valley in Canada, whose representatives were in Hongkong recently for a Canadian education fair, released the details of the new programmes in Business Administration. The university, in collaboration with the Open Learning Agency, is offering a programme of studies leading to a Bachelor of Business Administration, granted by the Open University. According to Mr David C. Chin, instructor of the college's Department of Business Administration, this is a unique opportunity in British Columbia since up till now Business Administration diploma students generally were given only one year's credit by universities for the two-year diploma. ''We will be the first university college to link up with the Open University to offer a Bachelor of Business Administration with the diploma as the requirement for entrance into the third and fourth year of the degree. ''We have designed a degree programme that 'ladders' from the diploma to the degree,'' he said. This means the students, after satisfactory completion of Year 1 and Year 2, will receive a business administration diploma. Then they will be admitted to Year 3. After finishing Year 4, students will receive the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. ''Students now have to spend only four years to complete both the diploma and degree courses. It is more time-and money-saving.'' Form 5 students have to complete the English as a Second Language and Adult Basic Education programmes, which usually take no longer than a year, before being admitted to the programme. While Forms 6 and 7 students will gain admission based on their HKCEE, TOEFEL, GCE results and information on conditional acceptance to Hongkong universities and colleges. If a student does not have the necessary academic qualifications, but has been in the business world for at least five years, the school will consider the application and admit the student on a qualifying or conditional basis. Mr Chin added that the diploma and degree programmes offered were fully recognised by the Ministry of Education in the Province of British Columbia and Canadian Association of Universities. The tuition cost for the September 1993 semester for international students is C$2,900 (about HK$17,600). There are two semesters in an academic year. The two-day education fair was organised by the Student Selection Office (Hongkong) and Government of British Columbia at Hongkong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The colleges represented were Seneca College, East Kootenay Community College, Camosun College, Vancouver Community College and Douglas College. For enquiries on the business programmes, write to the college in Abbotsford Campus, 33844 King Road, Abbotsford, British Columbia V2S 4N2.
