Mainland enrolment in HK associate degrees surges 20pc though non-recognition in China

Enrolment of mainland students in Hong Kong’s associate degree programs has increased by an average of 20 percent over the past two years as a number of mainland gaokao candidates turned to the city to pursue an associate degree after failing to reach their desired scores in the National College Entrance Examination, in hopes of gaining entry to local top universities. 

According to data from mainland education agency New Oriental, cited by China Newsweek, the number of mainland students applying for Hong Kong associate-degree programs hit 8,200 last year. 

While applicants were previously concentrated in coastal regions such as Guangdong and Fujian, enrollment has expanded to include students from northern China. 

A student from Guangdong who fell just short of the mainland’s undergraduate cut-off refused to settle for a local vocational college and instead chose associate-degree programs as an alternative. She said the application process is fast, sometimes taking less than a week, and allows students to secure conditional offers based on the internal high school grades before taking the gaokao, without requiring standard language exam scores. 

Consultancies told her that even students with scores in the 300s can apply. The associate degree graduates can also later apply for transition directly into the third year of an undergraduate program at Hong Kong’s top eight universities based on their academic results.

In contrast, the mainland’s equivalent transfer route takes at least five years and leaves a permanent “vocational” label on students’ resumes. 

However, experts reminded that the associate degree qualification will not be recognized in China if graduates fail to secure a subsequent bachelor’s degree. 

Yet the total cost of completing an associate degree and then a bachelor’s program can reach one million yuan. The route should not be mistaken for an easy way into local top universities for underperforming exam candidates. 

A student who enrolled in an associate degree at Hong Kong Metropolitan University last September noted that failing to achieve top grades over the two-year program can lead to an academic dead end. 

As the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange does not recognize Hong Kong associate degrees on their own, returning students who do not “top up” to a bachelor’s degree will effectively see their academic status revert to that of a high school graduate. 

To meet the specific needs of mainland students, some agencies offer all-inclusive counseling packages that manage the entire process, from handling the initial associate degree application and providing ongoing academic tutoring to planning their subsequent transition to a bachelor’s degree. Fees range from 100,000 to 300,000 yuan.

Chang Tian, a special associate researcher at South China Normal University, reminded that without a bachelor’s degree top-up, these students will be screened out by automated systems when applying for mainland civil service positions, public institutions, or state-owned enterprises.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓