Home > FAQs > Internationalisation > How does the UGC support the universities to pursue internationalisation, and what has the UGC done to encourage the universities to attract more non-local students in addition to those from the Mainland?

How does the UGC support the universities to pursue internationalisation, and what has the UGC done to encourage the universities to attract more non-local students in addition to those from the Mainland?

Internationalisation may come in many forms including international strategies, curriculum development, international networks, non-local student recruitment integration, international staff, etc. UGC has all along been, and will continue to, encourage universities to internationalise in ways that fit its institutional context.

In the 2012-15 triennium, UGC put together a “tripartite” funding scheme (funding from the Education Bureau, UGC and the participating universities) of $30 million to support four new initiatives on internationalisation and engagement with the Mainland, all of which were implemented in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 academic years. The initiatives were (i) funding student-initiated projects or initiatives that encourage multi-cultural integration; (ii) UGC helping to promote Hong Kong’s higher education sector as a united entity by taking the lead in setting up a Hong Kong Pavilion in international conferences; (iii) establishing a sector-wide search engine to provide easier access to information for prospective students; and (iv) bringing about more exchange opportunities for more students, in particular those who lack the means to travel outside Hong Kong, through financing student exchanges.

In particular, with the good results achieved in the setting up of a Hong Kong Pavilion in international education conferences, funding ($12 million) will continue to be provided to universities in the 2016-19 triennium for this purpose.

Apart from the major international education conferences, universities are given some additional funding to expand into new markets they consider to be desirable, for example, conferences in South America.

Furthermore, “Enhancement of internationalisation and engagement with the Mainland” is one of the strategic themes of the Funding Scheme on Teaching and Learning Related Proposals in the 2016-19 Triennium, which will be able to support projects with a total project cost of about $200 million in different strategic areas under the Scheme.

Indeed, it is worth noting that universities in Hong Kong are regarded to be doing well in terms of internationalisation.