City students still applying to study at more costly HKU

• Source: Global Times
• [11:11 June 30 2010]
• Comments

Parents wait for their children outside University of Hong Kong's Shanghai office Tuesday. Photo: Chen Xiaoru

By Chen Xiaoru

A 20-percent hike in yearly tuition fees at Hong Kong's most prestigious university has not discouraged students in Shanghai from applying to study down south at University of Hong Kong next year.

Despite the number of students taking gaokao, or the national college entrance examination hitting a 10-year low at 66,000 this year, some 400 students - a number similar to previous years - still registered for admittance interviews being given by University of Hong Kong this week in Shanghai.

Though annual tuition at University of Hong Kong will now cost students HK$ 119,000 ($15,286), up from HK$ 100,000 ($12,846) last year, students participating in interviews Tuesday, many of whom have already received offers from the Shanghai's top universities, said that their first choice would be Hong Kong if money were not an issue.

Universities on the Chinese mainland cost on average less than 10,000 yuan ($1,493) per year.

"Schools on the Chinese mainland have problems with plagiarism," Zhou Yiwei, who turned down an offer from Fudan University, told the Global Times Tuesday. "Hong Kong has better academics to offer."

Parents mused that living in a city like Hong Kong would also be a valuable experience.

"Hong Kong is more international than Chinese mainland cities," said the parent of a Zhao Yuan, a student applying to University of Hong Kong. "Besides the better quality of education available to students in Hong Kong, it will be good for my son to live there and be exposed to the city and its environment."

Still, the reality of a tuition increase means that many students will be forced to weigh their final decision on how much of a scholarship they receive, several students said.

Meanwhile, Luo Qian, director of public affairs for Fudan University, said it is understandable that students in Shanghai would want to study in Hong Kong if given the chance.

"University of Hong Kong ranks as one of the world's best universities, so we won't prevent any of our students enrolled here from studying there if they choose to," she said. "We are also a top school, better than many on the Chinese mainland, and we have plenty of students that are dying to study with us."