Exclusive | University of Hong Kong tops financial reserves table at HK$41.5 billion

Increases in reserves among city’s public universities range from 6 to 14 per cent in last academic year compared with 2022-23

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The University of Hong Kong’s reserves increased by 12 per cent from 2022-23. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 8:30am, 6 Feb 2025

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) recorded the largest financial reserves among the city’s eight public higher education institutions at HK$41.5 billion (US$5.3 billion) in the last academic year, a 12 per cent increase compared with 2022-23.

Authorities provided the Post with the figures for each institution on Wednesday, with increases ranging from 6 to 14 per cent.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) ranked second and third, respectively, for their reserves.

The Post reported the day before that the combined reserves for the eight universities rose to nearly HK$140 billion. But the institutions only told the Post to refer to their annual reports upon inquiry and declined to directly reveal their individual amounts.

All eight public universities have published annual reports detailing their financial status but only HKUST has disclosed its reserve numbers.

Lawmaker Chow Man-kong, the chairman of the Legislative Council’s education panel, said on Wednesday universities should make use of their healthy financial positions to weather potential funding cuts.