Home > UGC Publications > Press Releases > 2006 > Results of the Second Matching Grant Scheme for the UGC-funded sector announced

Results of the Second Matching Grant Scheme for the UGC-funded sector announced

The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:

The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (March 11) the overall results of the Second Matching Grant Scheme. The eight UGC-funded institutions have altogether secured close to $1.9 billion in donations under the Second Scheme, and the full amount of $1 billion matching grant has been allocated.

The Chairman of UGC, Dr Alice Lam said, "We are very pleased to see that the community has responded to the Second Scheme with such generous support."

"I feel much encouraged and comforted to see the whole community helping - from donations of small amounts by individuals, to tens of millions by major philanthropists."

She said, "All of the institutions have done extremely well. The great success of the Second Scheme just completed has confirmed that the introduction of Matching Grant Schemes has not only brought in additional resources to the UGC-funded institutions, but also helped to promote a philanthropic culture in the community. This will be beneficial to the long-term development of the higher education sector in Hong Kong."

To further strengthen the UGC-funded institutions' fund-raising capabilities and to encourage the growth of a philanthropic culture in the community, the Government allocated a further $1 billion for launching the Second Matching Grant Scheme in August 2005.

Relaxations were introduced in the second round to facilitate two significant developments in the higher education sector, namely internationalisation and campus development of the institutions.

The matching grant was disbursed on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis up to $45 million, beyond which $1 was granted for every $2 donation, up to a ceiling of $250 million of grant. Upon the close of the Second Scheme at the end of February 2006, the eight UGC-funded institutions had altogether secured close to $1.9 billion of donations and the $1 billion matching grant was fully allocated.

Dr Lam said, "Indeed, the institutions raised nearly $1.9 billion donations in just seven months under the Second Scheme. This is an outstanding achievement."

"I would like to thank the Government again for making the Second Matching Grant Scheme possible, and to thank all the people who have made donations to the institutions. Our institutions now know and appreciate how they can work with the community to take higher education to the next level."

With an allocation of $1 billion by the Government, a Matching Grant Scheme was first launched in July 2003 to award matching grants to the UGC-funded institutions which succeeded in securing donations for activities within the ambit of UGC recurrent grants. The eight UGC-funded institutions altogether secured more than $1.3 billion in donations and the $1 billion matching grant was allocated in full.

In view of the encouraging response of the First Matching Grant Scheme, the Government sought a further $1 billion in 2005 for introducing a Second Matching Grant Scheme, of which the final results are set out at the Annex.

End/Saturday, March 11, 2006

Annex

Result of Allocation for the
Second Matching Grant Scheme

Institution
Donations
$ million
Grants
$ million
City University of Hong Kong 78 45
Hong Kong Baptist University 91 64
Lingnan University 47 45
The Chinese University of Hong Kong 526 250
The Hong Kong Institute of Education 22 22
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 134 81
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 456 243
The University of Hong Kong 536 250
Total: 1,890 1,000

(Round to the nearest million)