The Education Bureau (EDB) announced today (June 1) that the Mainland University Study Subsidy Scheme (MUSSS) 2017/18 will, from today until August 31, be open for applications from eligible Hong Kong students pursuing undergraduate studies at 156 designated Mainland institutions.

     The MUSSS was launched by the Government in July 2014 to support Hong Kong students in financial need to pursue undergraduate studies in the Mainland under the Scheme for Admission of Hong Kong Students to Mainland Higher Education Institutions (Admission Scheme). Students who pass a means test will receive either a full-rate subsidy of HK$15,000 or half-rate subsidy of HK$7,500 per student per year, depending on their needs.

     The MUSSS has been expanded since the 2016/17 academic year to benefit all needy Hong Kong students pursuing undergraduate studies at the designated Mainland institutions, irrespective of the channel of their admission to the institutions. In the 2017/18 academic year, there are 156 such designated institutions. Those 156 Mainland institutions include 90 institutions participating in the Admission Scheme in the 2017/18 academic year, and another 66 institutions under "Project 985" and/or "Project 211" of the Mainland authorities which have not yet participated in the Admission Scheme.

     "Hong Kong students who receive and have completed senior secondary education in Hong Kong, including those studying local and non-local curricula, non-Chinese speaking students, as well as those who commenced their undergraduate studies in the Mainland before the introduction of the MUSSS, will be eligible under the MUSSS as long as they pursue undergraduate studies in the 156 designated Mainland institutions in the 2017/18 academic year," said a spokesman for the EDB.

     "It is envisaged that the MUSSS will benefit the bulk of needy Hong Kong students pursuing undergraduate studies in the Mainland."

     Details of the MUSSS and the application form are available at the EDB website (www.edb.gov.hk/musss17). Eligible students may submit, on or before July 31 (for students who entered the designated Mainland institutions before the 2017/18 academic year) or August 31 (for students who will first enter the designated Mainland institutions in the 2017/18 academic year), the completed application forms and relevant supporting documents to the EDB by post. The EDB will notify individual applicants of the application result by the first quarter of 2018.

Ends/Thursday, June 1, 2017
Issued at HKT 11:00

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