Private Hong Kong university offers alternative route to tertiary education for overseas students
Hong Kong Shue Yan University says its International Foundation Year Programme aligns with government’s ‘Study in Hong Kong’ brand
Affordability and respect for diversity are among the draws of a new programme offered by a private university in Hong Kong aimed at offering overseas high school graduates an alternative pathway to tertiary education in the city, the first batch of enrolled students have said.
Fifteen students from South Korea, India, Pakistan and Myanmar were admitted to the International Foundation Year Programme that Hong Kong Shue Yan University began in September.
University senior vice-president Sun Tien-lun said the new offering would help better prepare the students for the demands of a bachelor’s degree and help internalise the school.
The programme also aligned with the government’s plan to establish the “Study in Hong Kong” brand to help turn the city into a global tertiary education hub as envisioned in the policy address that Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivered in October, she said.
Programme director Michelle Chan Chi-ying said the university was seeing significant interest from overseas secondary school students in pursuing tertiary education in Hong Kong and the degree offered “an additional pathway that meets their needs”.
Among the enrolled students is Seok Chan-woo, a 21-year-old from South Korea interested in finance and banking. Before coming to Hong Kong, he had almost finished a similar programme in the United Kingdom, but eventually quit, Chan said.
