Starting from the 2018/19 academic year, the Government has provided a tuition waiver for all local full-time students enrolled in the UGC-funded Research Postgraduate(RPg) programmes.

The objective of the tuition waiver is to incentivise more local students to join the RPg programmes, so as to build up a pool of local research talents in order to sustain Hong Kong's competitiveness and propel the development of our higher education sector.

The scheme provides non-means-tested tuition waiver to all eligible local full-time students enrolled in the UGC-funded RPg programmes. Many students find this scheme appealing for the following reasons:

1. waived tuition fees for eligible students;
2. unlimited number of waiver recipients;
3. a waiver scheme that covers the tuition fees for the normative study period of the UGC-funded RPg programmes including:
   1. MPhil study – 2 years;
   2. PhD study for students who possess a research master's degree – 3 years; and
   3. PhD study for students who do not possess a research master's degree – 4 years.
4. students that enroll in a PhD programme after completing an MPhil programme will be entitled to tuition waivers for both programmes.

The tuition waiver scheme commences from the 2018/19 academic year; i.e. effective as of 1st July 2018.

Currently, all part-time RPg programmes are not funded by UGC.

To qualify for Tuition Waiver for Local Research Postgraduate (RPg) Students, students must meet the following criteria:

1. Local full-time students who are enrolled in the UGC-funded RPg programmes in following universities:
   1. City University of Hong Kong;
   2. Hong Kong Baptist University;
   3. Lingnan University;
   4. The Chinese University of Hong Kong;
   5. The Education University of Hong Kong;
   6. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University;
   7. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and
   8. The University of Hong Kong
2. both current and new students of RPg programmes are eligible.

For the definition of local and non-local students, please refer to the link below:
https://www.jupas.edu.hk/en/page/detail/3670/#def_nls

To avoid double benefit situations, should the RPg student’s tuition fee be fully waived by any other scheme, then they cannot qualify for the tuition waiver.

1. Should the tuition fee be partially waived, then the RPg students can still qualify for the remaining tuition waiver.
2. Scholarships, awards or stipends, which do not aim to cover the tuition fees, do not affect the waiver.

In case of dispute, the decision of the UGC and the UGC Secretariat shall be final.

Students covered under this scheme will no longer qualify for tuition fee grants under the Tertiary Student Finance Scheme – Publicly-funded Programme (TSFS) of the Student Finance Office. Notwithstanding, eligible students may still apply for means-tested grants and loans under the TSFS to cover their academic and living expenses respectively.