During his 2025 Policy Address last week, Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee confirmed that there will be an increase of the quota for non-local student admissions to public universities in the city, raising the cap from 40 to 50 percent.
According to Christine Choi Yuk-lin, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Education, the city’s eight public universities are well-equipped to accommodate a greater number of non-local students. Not only can the initiative raise the profile of Hong Kong universities among international student hopefuls, but the expansion of student demographics could enhance the city’s global education rankings.
Currently, the non-local student intake at public universities in Hong Kong is capped at 40 percent. Prior to the 2024-2025 academic year, it was limited to 20 percent, so based on this track record, the increases are significant and they are coming in quick succession. Some institutions are reported to have already reached the 40-percent cap for the current academic year. According to a source familiar with the situation, the 15,000 government-subsidised university places allocated annually to local students through the University Grants Committee (UGC) will not be impacted by this quota increase.
Lawmaker Lau Chi-pang – who also serves as the Special Advisor to the President of Lingnan University – has expressed his support for this initiative: “After increasing the ratio from 20 percent to 40 percent, the academic standards of admitted students continued to rise rather than decline. A further increase to 50 percent is acceptable.”
While an increase in non-local admissions has the positive impact of creating a more diversified student body, a raised cap could spell fiercer competition from non-local applicants, which in turn could limit the admission prospects of local students who are bound to seeking tertiary education opportunities at home in Hong Kong.
Lee said in his Policy Address that this decision will not affect the 15,000 funded places that are currently reserved for local students, telling the Legislative Council that ‘this number will not be reduced’.
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