World Class Education
Over the past decades, we have been attaching great importance to promoting quality post-secondary education by welcoming talents, upholding academic freedom, respecting institutional autonomy, fostering collaboration and promoting academic exchanges. Hong Kong aspires to further develop itself into an international education hub with world-class universities and quality institutions through diversification and internationalisation. It is our vision to nurture students to become biliterate and trilingual with broad knowledge base, global outlook, enriched learning experience, ability to think critically and creatively, ability to work independently and collaboratively, and most important of all, the integrity to serve the community.World Class Institutions
Our universities’ performance is outstanding amidst our population and GDP compared with other developed countries and regions. Taking territorial area into account, we have the most densely located world-class universities than any other places in the world.
Of the 22 local degree-awarding institutions in Hong Kong, five are ranked in the world’s top 100 and five are ranked in Asia’s top 10 by the Quacquarelli Symonds’ latest University Rankings. The Times Higher Education also ranked five of our universities within the top 100 in the world.
According to the latest Financial Times surveys, Hong Kong universities also host some of the world’s best business administration and executive business management programmes. Our performance in other fields is equally impressive. We adopt international standards in curriculum design and quality assurance.
Our institutions also join hands with other prestigious universities worldwide to offer joint academic programmes. The EMBA programme offered by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, in collaboration with Kellogg School of Management of the Northwestern University, was ranked 4th in the world in 2025 by the Financial Times.
Research Opportunities
Our institutions strive for excellence in conducting world-class quality research. They have also emphasised inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration in research activities so as to create synergy and maximise available resources.
The HKSAR Government established the Research Endowment Fund, scholarship schemes and fellowship awards to attract renowned scholars, outstanding local and non-local students, postgraduates, postdocs and academic staff to study and conduct research in Hong Kong.
To attract both outstanding local and non-local students to pursue PhD studies in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme was launched in 2009. In the 2026/27 academic year, the scheme provides each awardee with an annual stipend of HK$344,400 (approximately US$44,150) and a conference and research-related travel allowance of HK$14,400 (approximately US$1,840) per year for a period of up to three years. For awardees who need more than three years to complete their PhD studies, additional support may be provided by the chosen universities.