Celebrated for its fusion of Eastern and Western cultures, traditional elements and modern competitiveness, Hong Kong has established itself as one of Asia’s dominant economic powers – and is also emerging as one of the region’s leading study destinations. With three universities in Hong Kong ranked within the global top 50 and another three in the top 300, this dynamic and diverse city-state boasts one of the world’s most impressive concentrations of internationally ranked institutions – a significant factor behind its inclusion among the world’s top 10 cities for students.
Why study in Hong Kong?
Here, traditional Chinese culture and architecture exist alongside an iconic skyline of modern skyscrapers, visible reminders of Hong Kong’s status as a world-leading hub for commerce, finance, trade and logistics. Hong Kong also harbors ambitions of becoming a regional, and indeed global, hub for higher education, and is investing in schemes aimed at increasing international student enrolments, diversifying the tertiary sector and nurturing its already strong culture of research and innovation.
Many universities in Hong Kong already boast the kind of reputation needed to attract students and scholars from around the world. This combines with the various attractions of life in Hong Kong – a multicultural and outward-looking society offering some of the most diversified experiences you could hope to access in such a compact space – and the wide use of English both within higher education and in daily interactions, to make Hong Kong an appealing choice for many prospective students seeking a relatively accessible Asian destination. That said, anyone planning to study in Hong Kong should definitely allow for a period of transition; life in this fast-paced, action-packed metropolis is likely to feel like something of a whirlwind experience to begin with.
Universities in Hong Kong
There are almost 20 degree-awarding higher education institutions in Hong Kong, of which eight are publicly funded. All eight public universities in Hong Kong use English as the medium of instruction for the majority of courses, and all are well-known and respected well beyond the locality.
In the QS World University Rankings 2014/15®, Hong Kong’s highest entry is the University of Hong Kong, ranked 28th in the world. Not far behind are the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in 40th place and the Chinese University of Hong Kong at 46th. The City University of Hong Kong places just outside the global top 100 at 108th, while the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is also within the top 300 (at 162nd).
The the 2015 edition of the QS University Rankings: Asia, Hong Kong claims four representatives among the 10 top universities in Asia alone, led by the University of Hong Kong (HKU), which climbs one place in the ranking this year to 2nd in Asia, while HKUST also places strongly at 5th.
Looking at the QS World University Rankings by Subject, you can see that universities in Hong Kong are often world-leading in technical and engineering subjects. The University of Hong Kong, for example, is ranked internationally for 33 subjects, placing within the world’s top 50 for 26 academic disciplines. It comes second in the world for dentistry, sixth for education & training and ninth for both linguistics andcivil & structural engineering. HKUST meanwhile places within the world’s top 50 schools for accounting & finance, business & management, chemical engineering, chemistry, civil & structural engineering,computer science, economics & econometrics, electrical & electronic engineering, materials sciences,mathematics, mechanical engineering and statistics.
