Hong Kong universities are outshining Tsinghua

Shuli Ren, Bloomberg

Hong Kong is quickly becoming a college town. The number of non-local students, mostly from China, has nearly doubled since 2021, with the surge primarily driven by a sharp increase in postgraduate studies.

The young population inflow has given a boost to a gloomy economy that has been suffering from a prolonged property downturn. Residential rents are flirting with record highs, while cash-rich universities are buying up real estate across the city to use for classroom and dormitory housing.

For many, it is a significant financial commitment. Hong Kong is an expensive city to live in, and schools have been raising tuition. Hong Kong University, for instance, is charging non-STEM students about HK$198,000 ($25,479), a 9% increase from a year ago.

Why are Chinese students suddenly so enamored with the city’s universities, even though there are many good ones in the mainland? In the 2024-2025 academic year, over 70% of non-local students are from mainland China.

China has always prized its top 1%, lavishing millions of dollars on high-profile researchers while brushing aside younger ones who work in smaller laboratories.

Top universities in Hong Kong offer a good compromise. A less-than-ideal performance in the gaokao, or the national entrance exam, could cost an aspiring scholar a spot at Tsinghua. But the gaokao score is not the only thing for admissions to top programs in the financial hub, where resources are more evenly distributed among students.

As China’s economy undergoes a structural transition, families are starting to realize that majors matter as much as a university’s brand name. In just five years, finance and civil engineering are out, while nursing and mechanical engineering are in. How then do college students hedge the macro risk that their specialties become obsolete as soon as they graduate?

Students in Hong Kong don’t have to declare their specializations until much later, and more than half graduate with multiple majors, according to Allen Huang, former associate dean of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s business school.

Of course, some also prefer to be a big fish in a small pond, running away from the race-to-bottom mentality prevalent in the mainland. Last year, over 20% of Hong Kong high-schoolers got into top-tier universities, such as HKU, HKUST and City University of Hong Kong. By comparison, the admissions rate at China’s elite Project 985 schools is in the low single digits. As such, when a Chinese student comes to Hong Kong, she can expect to be top of the class, paving the way for well-paying jobs in the future.

Hong Kong also offers much higher pay. In the mainland, a Tsinghua graduate with three years of work experience makes 238,188 yuan ($33,526) on average, according to Zhaopin Ltd., an online recruiting services platform. If she enrols at HKUST instead, she can expect to make roughly 80% more, at HK$480,000 a year, according to data compiled by the university. A top graduate could make as much as HK$1 million.

People often think of Hong Kong as a global financial center. But the city is a lot more than just a funding platform for Chinese companies that want to expand overseas or an asset management hub that caters to mainland’s wealthy. For decades, it’s been a refuge — and a steppingstone — for millions who want an escape from rigid cultural and political norms in the north.

It turns out, higher education is Hong Kong’s other strong suit.

[Abridged]

Courtesy Bloomberg/Shuli Ren