Getting a university education will cost 17.6% more over the next three years. Photo: Elson LiObtaining an education at a university in Hong Kong will become more expensive starting in 2025. Tuition will increase by HK$2,400 (US$307) next year and an additional HK$2,500 in each of the following two years. This rise comes after a freeze of nearly three decades, leading to an ultimate increase of 17.6 per cent.
Eric Chan Kwok-ki, the city’s No 2 official, said on Thursday that the change was unrelated to the government’s deficit of more than HK$100 billion in the previous financial year and authorities had no plans for further fee increases.
“Our target has nothing to do with the deficit,” the chief secretary for administration said. “We have not adjusted the tuition fees in around 20 years, so we think there is a need to very gently adjust them.”
Five universities told the SCMP that financial support was available to students in need.
Undergraduates at the city’s eight publicly funded universities will see tuition fees rise from HK$42,100 to HK$44,500 in the 2025-26 academic year, and increase to HK$47,000 and HK$49,500 in 2026-27 and 2027-28.
Full-time taught postgraduate and research postgraduate programmes subsidised by the University Grants Committee will follow the same fee changes.
Education authorities described the increase as “very modest” compared with the cumulative increase of 40 per cent in the composite consumer price index, which reflects changes in the prices of consumer goods and services, since the last time the fees were adjusted in 1997-98.
It also underscored the need for the move given the cost recovery rate had slipped from 18 per cent in the 1990s to a low level of an estimated 12.5 per cent in 2024-25.
The increase will also cover some government-funded associate degree programmes, with fees to rise from HK$15,040 to HK$15,900 in 2025-26, then HK$16,800 in 2026-27 and HK$17,800 in 2027-28.
The University of Hong Kong (HKU), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), the University of Science and Technology, Baptist University and City University (CityU) all said they would provide financial assistance to students in need.
CityU said that it would introduce programmes in the next academic year that would cover tuition and hall fees, accommodation and provide up to HK$500,000 for a one-off exchange sponsorship to qualifying local students.
Lawmaker Lau Chi-pang, who is the associate vice-president of institutional advancement and external affairs at Lingnan University, said the annual increase was unlikely to be a “big burden” on students, adding they could take on more part-time jobs.
“On campus, the lowest hourly wage paid for part-time jobs is HK$60 to HK$65,” he told a radio programme.
“If you spread the increase out, it will only be HK$200 to HK$300 each month, you can make it back if you work for two to three hours.”
Anson Law Chun-yin, convenor of the CUHK’s joint college student unions, however, argued that a student entering university in 2024-2025 would need to pay extra fees of more than HK$14,000 over their four years of undergraduate education.
He also challenged Lau’s call for students to simply work more part-time jobs, explaining that some were also covering living costs and supporting their families on top of tuition fees.
Law said he hoped CUHK would soon update its scholarships and subsidies to reflect the change in fees.
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Loy Cheuk-han, a first-year business student at HKU, said the raise could pose a problem for his parents, who were paying his tuition fees.
The student said he had been working part-time at a club for HK$60 an hour since February to help save up money for the future. He added that he would have to find an internship next summer.
Deng Jiaxin, a fourth-year student majoring in molecular biology and biotechnology at the same university, said she would be fine with the increase if it benefited undergraduates.
“It can provide us with more medical books or electronic resources, for example,” she said.
But she said the move would be unfair if money from the new fees went to covering postgraduate research or administration costs.
Chan Ching-yeung, a second-year nursing student at HKU, said that the increase could produce some positive effects.
“That money can ensure we have a better education and access to more facilities,” he said.
The nursing student said he planned to find a part-time job at a medical centre during the next summer break, mainly to gain more work experience.