HONG KONG: University officials in Hong Kong admit that the 10 percent quota they have for mainland students makes admissions very competitive, but that has not stopped many schools from holding out ever sweeter deals to woo the students.

At least two universities Polytechnic University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will either increase the scholarship fund pool or increase the scholarships to match the rises in tuition that will take effect in the fall.

Another school, City University of Hong Kong, plans to promote itself by inviting more senior middle school officials to the campus and sending some of its staff to the mainland for visits to the schools.

Hong Kong universities reported receiving about 30,000 applications from mainland students last year HKU and Polytechnic University each received about one-third of the applicants, while the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology received 6,300.

In addition, City U says it accepted 207 students from the mainland last year. About 40 were from Beijing with 75 from Shanghai and Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.

Undergraduate education Vice-President Richard Ho Yan-ki said the university would step up its promotional campaign in smaller cities and other areas to have a wider representation of students.

Thirty-eight principals, administrators and teachers from some of the mainland's top senior middle schools visited the campus last month to be briefed on next year's admissions strategy.

Ho said the university planned to invite about officials from 50 mainland schools in "far-off" places to visit the campus. Also, the university will send staff to participate in an educational expo on the mainland and visit schools in Shandong, Sichuan and Hunan provinces and Chongqing Municipality.

"We need to admit students from more places instead of having a high concentration from the big cities," Ho said. "It's important for us to help more mainland senior middle schools be familiar with Hong Kong's educational system and universities."

In the area of awarding scholarships, Ho said City U would change requirements but would not say how.

City U and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) now follow the mainland's standardized university admission examination system, which awards students scholarship money or reduces or eliminates tuition fees depending on their scores.

Also, City U says it is considering giving extra credit to students who have won awards at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

HKU is planning to raise its tuition to HK$100,000 ($12,800) a year from $80,000 ($10,250), but academic registrar Henry Wai said a new HK$2 million ($256,000) allocation from its HK$8.4-million ($1.07 million) scholarship fund will offset the rise. Sixty students will benefit from the fund, up from 48.

"Many of our applicants are offered admission by prestigious mainland universities, but they still apply to HKU," Wai said. "We're giving them an extra choice. And the increase of tuition fees would be compensated by more scholarships."

Students may apply for the additional scholarships to pay for their tuition and living expenses.

Wai also said HKU would scrap its written admissions test in favor of interviews to assess the applicants' English-speaking skills.

Polytechnic University will increase its annual tuition for non-local students this fall to HK$70,000 ($9,000) from HK$60,000 ($7,700). To compensate, the annual education allowances it gives to mainland students will rise to HK$110,000 ($14,100) from HK$100,000 ($12,800).

Some mainland travel agencies and individual travellers, most of whom are parents of college-age students, come to Hong Kong specifically to inquire about admissions, HKU's Wai said.

Although HKU has decided not to help the agencies organize campus tours, it will arrange for "student ambassadors" to brief visitors on campus life.

City U's Ho said Hong Kong universities were not really competing with their mainland counterparts for good students. Ninety percent of the total of 14,500 university seats are for local students, leaving only 10 percent for students from elsewhere.

"Even if the quota were increased to 30 percent, Hong Kong would still get only about 4,500 students from outside," Ho said. "This is not going to create a significant impact on the mainland."

(China Daily 01/11/2007 page4)