Home > Funding Opportunities > Tuition Waiver for Local RPg Students

Tuition Waiver for Local Research Postgraduate (RPg) Students

 

The Scheme

Starting from 2018/19 academic year, the Government would provide tuition waiver for all local students enrolled in UGC-funded RPg programmes. All local students enrolled in UGC-funded RPg programmes will be provided with tuition waiver.

 

The Objective

The objective for the tuition waiver is to incentivise more local students to join RPg programmes so as to build up a pool of local research talents to sustain Hong Kong's competitiveness and propel the development of our higher education sector.

 

Details of the Scheme

  • The scheme will provide non-means-tested tuition waiver to all eligible local students enrolled in UGC-funded RPg programmes.
  • The entire tuition fee of the eligible students will be waived.
  • There is no cap on the number of waiver recipients.
  • The waiver scheme will cover the tuition fees for the normative study period of UGC-funded RPg programmes, as follows –
      • - MPhil study – 2 years;
      - PhD study for students who have a research master's degree – 3 years; and
      - PhD study for students who do not have a research master's degree – 4 years.
  • A student who enrolls in a PhD programme after completing an MPhil programme will be entitled for the tuition waiver for both programmes
  • The tuition waiver scheme will commence from the 2018/19 academic year, i.e. with effect from 1st July 2018.

 

Eligibility

  • All local students enrolled in all UGC-funded RPg programmes provided by the following universities are eligible for the tuition waiver –
      • - City University of Hong Kong;
      - Hong Kong Baptist University;
      - Lingnan University;
      - The Chinese University of Hong Kong;
      - The Education University of Hong Kong;
      - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University;
      - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and
      - The University of Hong Kong
  • Non-local students holding the following visas are not eligible –
    1. student visa / entry permit;
    2. visa under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG); or
    3. dependent visa*
    issued by the Director of Immigration.
      * Applicable to students who were 18 years old or above when they were issued with such visa.
  • Both current and new students of RPg programmes are eligible.
  • To prevent double benefit, students will no longer be eligible for the tuition waiver, if the tuition fee of the RPg student has been fully waived by any other schemes.
      • - If the tuition fee has been partially waived, students are still eligible for the tuition waiver.
      - Scholarships, awards or stipends which do not aim to cover the tuition fees will not affect the waiver.
  • In case of any dispute, decision of the UGC and the UGC Secretariat shall be final.

 

Other Student Financial Assistance

Students covered by this scheme will no longer be eligible for applying tuition fee grants under the Tertiary Student Finance Scheme – Publicly-funded Programme (TSFS) of the Student Finance Office. Notwithstanding, eligible applicants may still apply for means-tested grants and loans under the TSFS to cover their academic expenses and living expenses respectively.

 

Enquiry

Please contact the Graduate School or Registry of relevant university of the RPg programme concerned for enquiry.

 

Frequently Asked Questions