Students question fee increases at private universities
Students are questioning steady fee increases at private universities, but demand for places is still soaring
Tony Hui Chun-pong pays higher tuition fees than most other university students - HK$60,000 a year - and doesn't have a room in a dormitory. But the first-year journalism student at Hang Seng Management College is excited about having a taste of campus life. Thousands of school graduates are expected to join the ranks in September, having been denied places at the eight government-funded tertiary institutions based on their Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination results, released last week.
This year, 28,418 candidates obtained the minimum score for university admission, competing for the fixed quota of 15,000 government-subsidised, first-year degree places. The number of places available to them is actually smaller, around 12,000, taking into account the places universities reserve for students from overseas and the international school sector, who apply outside the joint admissions system.
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To meet the soaring demand for university education, the government has encouraged the rise of private universities by providing them with land and interest-free start-up loans. But students have griped about the higher-than-usual tuition fees, ranging from HK$50,000 to more than HK$100,000 a year, and less well-equipped campuses.
After being elevated to a degree-granting institution in 2010, Hang Seng Management College - nestled on a hillside in Siu Lik Yuen, Sha Tin - underwent an expansion that saw its campus encompass three academic blocks.
With an undergraduate population of about 3,000, it has a mere 206 hostel places. That figure will rise to 1,200 when a new hostel is built next year. The objective of the eight institutions funded by the University Grants Committee to let students live on campus for at least one academic year hardly applies to privately run institutions.
But Hui is pleased to have moved on to undergraduate study, and has become heavily involved in student union and hall activities. "The campus life here is quite colourful. I am enjoying it. There are up to 30 student societies. Unlike in school, we have more freedom, and have the chance to think about various issues through various subjects, instead of just studying to pass exams."