FAQs

Student Affairs Office Financial Assistance HKMU Student Financial Assistance Scheme FAQs

General

Eligibility, Application period and Others

The government and university provide various financial assistance schemes to financially support the needy students, e.g. the HKMU Bursary/Loan, Government's grant or loan schemes and the Continuing Education Fund. Please visit the Student Affairs Office website for more details.

Bursaries

Applicants must be the HKMU continuing students who has passed one part time (distance learning) credit-bearing course at HKMU.

Loans

Applicants must intend to register for any part time (distance learning) credit-bearing course at HKMU. Meanwhile, applicants must have the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or have resided or have had their homes in Hong Kong continuously for three complete years prior to the commencement of the programme/course. This does not cover students studying in Hong Kong holding student visas.

In general, the ineligible applicants include:

Bursaries

  1. overseas applicants;
  2. have failed to meet repayment obligations for a loan previously granted without special authorization; and
  3. have obtained three 'fail' (including absence)/withdrawals from three courses supported by the bursary or loan.

Loans

  1. prison inmates and overseas applicants;
  2. have failed to meet repayment obligations for a loan previously granted without special authorization; and
  3. (for POG loan applicants only) have obtained three 'fail' (including absence)/withdrawals from three courses supported by the bursary or loan.

If applicants submit application in the 1st round of application, they do not need to pay the tuition fees to reserve the course places (but not the specific class section). However, for applicants in the 2nd round application (PAOY Loan will be offered only), they have to pay the tuition fees first, and the loan will be disbursed on reimbursement basis.

Yes, but the request will only be considered before the term begins.

 

If the course(s) are financed by bursary, the course credits and amount of course fee of the new course should be as the same as or lower than the old course. For loan, students will not be refunded for the paid administrative fees of the old course and they should also pay an administrative fee for the new course.

HKMU Bursaries

Application and Payment Arrangement

Yes. Applicants are required to submit application in every term. In the meanwhile, when you once submit a duly completed application for bursary, you are not required to provide the same financial information and relevant proof for the next application(s) in the subsequent term(s) of the same academic year. This is because the assessment of “Adjusted Family Income” will be conducted in a yearly basis.

Yes. If you apply for bursary, you should provide the information of all family members living together with you for assessment.

If your paternal / maternal grandparents resided in a home for the elderly from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 and the expenses were wholly paid by you for an aggregate period of 6 months or more, please provide the information in Section of "Employment / Study Details of Family Members" in the online application form. You are required to attach all the receipts issued by the home for the elderly in the 2023-24 financial year.

If your family received CSSA for the whole assessment period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, it is sufficient for you to provide the following documents together with your application.

  • a photocopy of the Social Welfare Department Notification Letter which advised the amount of CSSA approved for your family throughout the assessment period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

The recipients of Full Bursary are required to complete the online Reply Proforma by the specified deadline.

For Half Bursary, the recipients are required to submit a cheque to settle the remaining tuition fees for the course(s) they choose for receiving half bursary additionally.

Upon receiving all the above documents, SAO will coordinate the registration of course(s) and pay the tuition fees for you. Reimbursement will be arranged if applicants have already paid the course fees concerned.

HKMU Loans

Application, Payment Arrangement and Repayment

Yes, but it is required to fill in a full version of Loan Form. Prospective and new students who do not have HKMU student number and have not registered on any courses in part-time programmes, please apply through the platform (http://www.hkmu.edu.hk/mu-loans).

The Pay On Graduation (POG) loan is repayable in four years by 16 equal quarterly instalments, and no interest will be incurred. Applicants should apply for the POG loan in the 1st round of application.

 

Student loan repayers will receive notification letters three months before the commencement of repayment, and they will be informed of the repayment arrangement and schedule. Repayment of the POG loan will become due and payable in one of the following situations, whichever is the earliest.

  1. Upon accepting an HKMU award (certificate, diploma, higher diploma, degree), or
  2. Upon achievement of 160 credits (for 5-credit programmes) / 120 credits (for 3-credit-unit programmes), or
  3. 6 years after the first loan is issued, or
  4. Upon obtaining 3 'fail' (including absence) results or withdrawals from 3 courses supported by bursary/loan; or
  5. Upon suspension of study for more than 2 consecutive terms after the bursary/loan is awarded.

The Pay After One Year (PAOY) loan will become due and payable one year after the loan is disbursed. It should be repaid in 4 equal quarterly instalments within one year. No interest will be incurred.

 

Student loan repayers will receive notification letters three months before the commencement of repayment, and they will be informed of the repayment arrangement and schedule.

Applicants of Full or Half Bursary do not need to pay an administrative fee.

 

Applicants of Pay On Graduation (POG) or Pay After One Year (PAOY) Loan should pay an administrative fee when they confirm acceptance of the loan, and the non-refundable administrative fee is 0.5% of the loan amount. E.g. an applicant is offered a loan for a 5-credit course amounting HK$5,850, he/she should pay HK$30 as the administrative fee.

Applicants should pay the administrative fees of loans via the HKMU ePayment Platform. The payment methods include:

  1. Instant PPS;
  2. Online Credit Card (Visa/ MasterCard/ UnionPay);
  3. FPS QR Code;
  4. AliPay; and
  5. WeChat Pay.

The recipients of Pay On Graduation (POG) or Pay After One Year (PAOY) Loan are required to complete the online Reply Proforma and submit the following documents (by post or in person) to the Student Affairs Office by the specified deadline:

  1. a duly completed "Undertaking to be Signed by a Student Receiving Loans";
  2. a duly completed "Deed of Indemnity"; and
  3. photocopies of the HKID Cards of the witness and indemnifier.
Upon receiving all the above documents, SAO will coordinate the registration of course(s) and direct transfer the loan amount to settle your tuition fees. Reimbursement will be arranged if applicants have already paid the course fees concerned.

To be acceptable as an indemnifier, a person must be:

  1. a Hong Kong resident holding a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card;
  2. at or over 21 years of age;
  3. gainfully employed in Hong Kong and financially sound; and
  4. able to produce the required documentary evidence.

For details, please refer to paragraphs 6.7, 6.8 and 6.10 of the "Guidance Notes for HKMU Student Financial Assistance Scheme" [SFA (2023/24) Guide-e].

To be acceptable as a witness, a person must be:

  1. a Hong Kong resident holding a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card;
  2. at or over 18 years of age; and
  3. able to produce the required documentary evidence.

The applicant himself/herself is not acceptable to act as the witness of his/her Undertaking and the corresponding Deed of Indemnity. The Indemnifier is not acceptable to act as the witness of his/her Deed of Indemnity and the corresponding Undertaking.

 

For details, please refer to paragraphs 6.11 and 6.12 of the "Guidance Notes for HKMU Student Financial Assistance Scheme".

Student loan repayers can repay the loan(s) by using the autopay transaction. You should have sent the Direct Debit Authorization (DDA) forms to the banks at least 8 weeks before the first instalment due date, and also submit a relevant copy to the Student Affairs Office. The loan repayers should maintain sufficient funds in the bank for auto-debit payment of each instalment, which will be conducted at 00:00 on the respective due date. If an instalment due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the autopay transaction will be made on the next working day.

Failure to repay loan instalments by the due dates will result in extra payment of penalty charge and surcharge.

 

If a student loan repayer fails to arrange autopay transaction for repayment on the due dates, he/ she will have to pay a penalty charge of HK$30. Moreover, a surcharge of 5% on the overdue instalment will be levied on all loans if payment of any instalment is delayed by 7 days or more. If a student loan repayer fails to repay two or more consecutive quarterly instalments, the repayment of the outstanding loan, surcharge and unsuccessful autopay transaction penalty charge will be due immediately, and he/ she is considered as in debt to the University. The University reserves the right to take one or more of the following actions to recover the loan to defaulters:

  1. holding of the indemnifier as responsible for paying the outstanding amount on behalf of the concerned student;
  2. withholding of the final result status of course(s) being studied (the result status would be 'pending');
  3. exclusion from further registration of courses;
  4. exclusion from further financial assistance;
  5. withholding of the conferment of any qualification on the concerned student;
  6. withholding of the issuance of any certified letters/ certificate/ diploma/ transcript; and
  7. commencing legal proceedings against the loan recipient and/or his/her indemnifier(s).

If the student loan repayers have difficulties in repaying the loan(s) due to financial hardship or serious illness, they may apply for deferment of loan repayment. Relevant application should be submitted in writing, together with the necessary documentary proof, to the Student Affairs Office before the due date(s) of the instalment(s) concerned. The University will consider each application on its own merits.

The Extension of Deferral of HKMU Student Loan Repayment is a special relief measure in view of the worsening COVID-19 pandemic situation. The measure is to allow eligible students to enjoy extension of deferral of repayment of HKMU Loan for another two years from 15 July 2022 to 14 July 2024 (referred to as “extended suspension period” hereunder). The implementation parameters and eligibility criteria of the extension arrangement follow those of the deferral arrangement executed in June 2020. The HKMU Loan repayers do not need to submit any applications individually. Please click here to view the relevant FAQs.