HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund

A. Overview

The Government established in 2008 the $1 billion HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund (the Fund) to provide scholarships for outstanding students pursuing full-time publicly-funded programmes at degree or above level in Hong Kong. With a view to further developing Hong Kong into an international education hub, several subsequent injections were made to the Fund, providing more different types of scholarship, including those for sub-degree students. The investment income generated from the Fund is used to provide scholarships to outstanding local and non-local students.

Each academic year, the Government will distribute a sum of money, funded by the investment income generated from the Fund, to the ten institutions [the eight University Grants Committee-funded institutions, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and Vocational Training Council (VTC)] offering full-time publicly-funded programmes at sub-degree or above levels. In 2018, the Government injected another $800 million into the Fund to award more scholarships from the 2019/20 academic year onwards, with a view to further encouraging students to pursue excellence in academic and non-academic areas.

Selection criteria

In deciding if a student who applies for the above scholarships should be awarded, the institutions take the following qualities into consideration, with appropriate adaptations to cater for different groups of students –

Students of full-time publicly-funded degree or above level programmes
(a) excellent performance in academic studies;
(b) recognized contribution to the institution/society;
(c) demonstrated leadership and good communication skills; and/or
(d) strong commitment to the Hong Kong community.

Students of full-time publicly-funded sub-degree programmes
(a) high standard of academic performance;
(b) demonstration of leadership and good communication skills;
(c) valuable contribution to the institution/community; and/or
(d) strong commitment to the Hong Kong community.

B. Scholarships/Awards under the Fund

(i) Belt and Road Scholarship

To strengthen education collaboration with Belt and Road countries, Belt and Road Scholarships (under the Targeted Scholarship Scheme) have been offered to students coming from designated countries along the Belt and Road regions since the 2016/17 academic year. To attract more non-local outstanding students to further their studies in Hong Kong, the Belt and Road Scholarship has been further expanded to cover all regions along the Belt and Road in the 2019/20 academic year via the following -

(a) Belt and Road Scholarship (Designated Countries) – for students from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Mongolia and Kazakhstan;

(b) Belt and Road Scholarship (Other Countries) – for students from Belt and Road countries other than Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Mongolia and Kazakhstan; and

(a) and (b) will be awarded to first-year non-local students pursuing full-time publicly-funded undergraduate studies in Hong Kong, while (c) supports first-year non-local students from any countries along the Belt and Road in pursuing full-time publicly-funded research postgraduate programmes in Hong Kong. These scholarships cover full tuition fees, and are tenable for the normal duration of the programmes concerned. The scholarships would be renewed annually subject to satisfactory academic performance of the awardees. In 2024, the Government injected $1 billion into the Fund with a view to increasing the annual quota of the Belt and Road Scholarship by 50% starting from the 2024/25 academic year.

For details on the above schemes, please visit https://www.studyinhongkong.edu.hk/en/hong-kong-education/scholarships.php. For enquiries, please email the Education Bureau at hksbr@edb.gov.hk.

(ii) Scholarships for Outstanding Performance (SOP)

With a view to attracting outstanding local students to advance their studies at home, and meritorious non-local students to pursue higher education opportunities in Hong Kong, SOP was established in 2008 to recognise outstanding local and non-local students studying in full-time publicly-funded programmes at degree or above levels in Hong Kong. The scholarship is $40,000 per year for local students and $80,000 per year for non-local students.

In 2011, the Government injected $250 million into the Fund to extend the benefit to students of full-time publicly-funded sub-degree programmes offered by five institutions [(City University of Hong Kong (CityU), The Education University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), HKAPA and VTC] from the 2011/12 academic year onwards (CityU and PolyU have ceased to offer full-time publicly-funded sub-degree programmes from 2022/23 academic year onwards.). The scholarship award for these sub-degree students is between $20,000 to $30,000 per year for both local and non-local students. Enquiries about the Fund should be directed to the Education Bureau at hkgsf@edb.gov.hk.

Number of Awardees and Amount Awarded under SOP

Degree and above level Students

Academic Year	Number of Awardees	Amount Awarded
2008/09	230	$12 Million
2009/10	441	$24 Million
2010/11	514	$29 Million
2011/12	514	$29 Million
2012/13	710	$42 Million
2013/14	834	$47 Million
2014/15	854	$47 Million
2015/16	865	$47 Million
2016/17	869	$48 Million
2017/18	747	$42 Million
2018/19	751	$42 Million
2019/20	856	$47 Million
2020/21	841	$47 Million
2021/22	822	$47 Million
2022/23	838	$47 Million

Sub-degree Students

Academic Year	Number of Awardees	Amount Awarded
2011/12	143	$3 Million
2012/13	421	$9 Million
2013/14	555	$12 Million
2014/15	564	$12 Million
2015/16	568	$12 Million
2016/17	570	$12 Million
2017/18	479	$10 Million
2018/19	478	$10 Million
2019/20	583	$12 Million
2020/21	583	$12 Million
2021/22	577	$12 Million
2022/23	579	$12 Million

(iii) Talent Development Scholarship and Reaching Out Award

In 2012, the Government further injected $1 billion into the Fund, and two new scholarships and awards, namely the Talent Development Scholarship (TDS) and Reaching Out Award (ROA) were established in the 2012/13 academic year to benefit a wider range of students not only of outstanding academic performance, but also with achievements and talents in other non-academic fields. The amount of each award for TDS and ROA is set at $10,000 for students enrolled in full-time publicly-funded programmes at sub-degree or above levels, irrespective of whether they are local or non-local students.

The Talent Development Scholarship (TDS) aims to give recognition to students not only of outstanding academic performance, but also with achievements and talents in non-academic areas and provide support for these students to further develop their talent and potential. It will be offered to local or non-local students enrolled in full-time publicly-funded programmes at sub-degree or above levels who have demonstrated talent or potential in at least one of the following areas -

(a) Sports and games;

(b) Music and performing arts;

(d) Innovation, science and technology.

The Reaching Out Award (ROA) aims to support meritorious local or non-local students enrolled in full-time publicly-funded programmes at sub-degree or above levels to participate in learning, internship or service programmes, as well as national, regional and international events and competitions that are conducted outside Hong Kong and organised/endorsed by institutions. Some examples of activities and sharing of the recipients can be found here.

(iv) Endeavour Merit Award

In 2013, the government injected another $20 million into the Fund to set up the Endeavour Merit Award (EMA) in the 2013/14 academic year to give recognition to deserving post-secondary students with special educational needs (SEN)^{^} in the pursuit of excellence in academic and other areas. The amount of each award for both local and non-local students pursuing full-time publicly-funded programmes at sub-degree or above levels is set at $15,000.

^{^} SEN includes specific learning difficulties, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, physical disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech and language impairment, and others.

C. The Hong Kong, China-APEC Scholarship

Starting from the 2014/15 academic year, non-local recipients of the Fund originated from APEC member economies are awarded the "Hong Kong, China-APEC Scholarship" to support and carry forward the APEC Scholarship Initiative which aims to promote the creation of privately and publicly funded APEC-branded scholarship, training, and internship opportunities to benefit students and professionals, especially youth and women from developing APEC economies. An introduction of the APEC Scholarship Initiative can be found at http://education.apec.org/.

D. Links to Participating Institutions

For further information on this scholarship as well as other scholarships provided by the various institutions, please refer to the links below –

More information on studying in Hong Kong and Government scholarship awards for tertiary students in Hong Kong can be found at http://www.studyinhongkong.edu.hk.

E. Other Information

Budgets and Annual Reports

Annual Budgets (2008 - 2024)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2008-12)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2012-13)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2013-14)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2014-15)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2015-16)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2016-17)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2017-18)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2018-19)

Annual report on scholarship distribution (2019-20)