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
Loans
Since course places are only reserved upon full settlement of tuition fees, applicants may consider paying the tuition fees themselves during the course registration process if they wish to secure a place in the course(s). The Student Affairs Office will NOT reserve course places for any applicants. In case students decide not to pay the tuition fees during course registration, the course and class places are not guaranteed, however, they are still eligible to apply for the financial assistance.
Loan applicants of the second round are required to pay the tuition fees first. If they are experiencing financial difficulties and are unable to pay the tuition fees, they may apply for a direct transfer of the loan amount to their tuition fees account, but the course place is not guarantee.
And please note that, if the bursary/loan application is ultimately unsuccessful, applicants who have successfully completed course registration cannot use this as a justification for course withdrawal, and the paid tuition fees will NOT be refunded or transferred to another term or for another use.
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.
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.
Successful applicants are required to complete the acceptance of assistance online and submit the required documents to the Student Affairs Office by the deadline specified in the Reply Proforma.
Half bursary recipients are required to pay the remaining tuition fees upon acceptance of the bursary.
If the successful applicants have already paid the course fees during course registration, they will be reimbursed for the fees they have paid.
If the successful applicants have not paid the course fees, the Student Affairs Office will help them complete the registration of the relevant course(s) with the Registry and directly settle the tuition fees on their behalf. However, successful enrolment is subject to course quota availability at that time, and the class section(s) for the concerned course(s) will be assigned by the University.
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.
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:
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:
To be acceptable as an indemnifier, a person must be:
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:
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:
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.
