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SCMP Editorial
SCMP Editorial

Editorial | Quality counts as Hong Kong seeks to lure more international students

While the increase in the number of applications from non-locals students is encouraging, universities could cast their net wider

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Students walk through the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology campus in Clear Water Bay in October 2023. Photo: May Tse
SCMP Editorial
With no fewer than five universities ranked among the world’s top 100, the city is definitely well positioned to nurture the “Study in Hong Kong” brand. Hong Kong’s proximity to mainland China and long-established overseas links have further reinforced its status as an international education hub. The priority is to cast the net wider to attract the best and brightest from the mainland and overseas to work and study here.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin revealed that applications from non-local students had increased significantly this year, with the numbers almost doubling in some institutions. The city also tapped the opportunities arising from the United States’ recent policy changes for international students; four local institutions made at least 36 offers to those affected. This outcome is encouraging.

There is room to do more. There were 17,161 non-local students at public universities in 2024-25. This accounts for about 23 per cent of local student places, still short of the 40 per cent allowed.

Noting that the quota is still not fully utilised and that some institutions are not yet ready for increasing their intake in terms of staffing and facilities, Choi said she believed that public universities could enrol more quality overseas students to ensure greater diversity on campuses in future.

She said the universities had become more mindful of the number of overseas students compared with those from the mainland, Taiwan and Macau, in response to concerns that mainlanders accounted for more than 70 per cent of the non-local intake. But she stressed that picking the best was still the priority and that this would not be sacrificed to ensure greater diversity.

Being an international education hub means the city should aim to attract the top students from different countries. Local universities should come up with more quality and up-to-date programmes, such as tech-related majors, to attract talent from around the world.

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