Continuing Education Fund (CEF)

New Enhancement Measures of Continuing Education Fund (Effective from 1 August 2022)

1. Applicant must be Hong Kong residents who have the right of abode or the right to land or to remain in Hong Kong without restriction, i.e. “A” (right of abode), “R” (right to land) or “U” (remain in Hong Kong without restriction) should appear below the date of birth on the HK Smart Identity Card, or holders of One-way Permit from Mainland China. For details of the meaning of symbols, please visit the website of the Immigration Department;
2. Applicant must be aged 18 or above* at the time when the CEF reimbursable course commenced;
3. Applicant has enrolled in and paid the tuition fee for the CEF reimbursable course under the specified mother programme;
4. Applicants have not obtained any other public funds or assistance under any other publicly-funded financial assistance schemes [e.g. HKMU Loan, etc.] for the same course; and
5. Applicant must has completed the CEF reimbursable course in compliance with the CEF regulations, having passed it at the threshold prescribed by the Office of Continuing Education Fund which may not be the same as the University's pass threshold set for the course.

* The application for fee reimbursement for course(s) which commenced during the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 July 2022 must be submitted within one year upon the successful completion of the course(s) and before reaching the age of 71. Late applications will not be accepted.

Applicable to CEF reimbursable courses commenced on or after 1 August 2022

1. Applicants who apply for CEF for the first time or applicants who have opened CEF accounts before 1 August 2022 (regardless of whether their accounts were closed in the past), they may submit claims for reimbursement of fees for CEF reimbursable courses commenced on or after 1 August 2022;
2. The maximum entitlement for new applicants is HK$25,000. For applicants who have opened CEF accounts before 1 August 2022, they are eligible for claiming the additional HK$5,000 subsidy and the unused balance (if any) of the original subsidy of HK$20,000. The co-payment ratios by learners for the first HK$10,000 subsidy is 20% of the course fee and that for the remaining HK$15,000 subsidy is 40% of the course fee; and
3. Applicants must be aged 18 or above when the CEF reimbursable course commenced and the application must be submitted within one year upon the successful completion of the course. Late applications will not be accepted.

Applicable to CEF reimbursable courses commenced from 1 April 2019 to 31 July 2022

1. There are no restrictions on the number of claims and validity period for applicants who have enrolled CEF reimbursable courses commenced from 1 April 2019 to 31 July 2022;
2. Eligible applicants may submit reimbursement applications in respect of different CEF courses within one year upon the successful completion of the courses up to the subsidy ceiling of HK$20,000. The co-payment ratios by learners (i.e. the percentage of fees to be borne by learners) for the first HK$10,000 subsidy is 20% of the course fee and that for the second HK$10,000 subsidy is 40% of the course fee. Please refer to the previously prevailing Guidance Notes for Application [SFO 312_E (2020)] for details of the requirements; and
3. Applicants must be aged between 18 and 70 (i.e. before reaching the age of 71) when an application is submitted and the application must be submitted within one year upon the successful completion of the course. Late applications will not be accepted.

Applicable to CEF reimbursable courses commenced before 1 April 2019

1. For applicants who have opened their CEF accounts before 1 April 2019 and the accounts are still valid* on 1 April 2019 (i.e. generally those applicants who have opened their accounts on or after 1 April 2015, have not reached the age of 66, have unused balance for the original HK$10,000 subsidy and have not reached the maximum number of 4 claims), they may submit applications for reimbursement of fees upon the successful completion of CEF reimbursable courses commenced after the opening of their CEF accounts and before 31 March 2019; and

*If students have taken the course assessment or examination within the validity period but the examination result can only be released after the deadline of validity period, students may approach SAO to apply for a copy of the "Certification of Course Examination Status". Applicants should submit to OCEF the completed application form together with copies of supporting documents before the deadline. Please contact SAO staff for enquiries.

2. For CEF reimbursable courses that commenced before 1 April 2019, reimbursement claims will be processed by OCEF in accordance with the requirements in force before 1 April 2019 (i.e. subsidy ceiling is HK$10,000, 4 years validity period, maximum number of 4 claims and upper age limit of 66, etc.).  Please refer to the previously prevailing Continuing Education Fund Guidance Notes for Application [SFO 191 (2015) Rev.]  for details.

Points to Note

1. To be eligible for consideration for fee reimbursement, the applicant must have completed the CEF reimbursable course in compliance with the CEF regulations, having passed it at the threshold prescribed by the Office of Continuing Education Fund which may not be the same as the University's pass threshold set for the course;
2. Applicants are advised to check the status and balance of their CEF accounts before enrolling in a CEF reimbursement course. A "subsidy calculator" is available on the CEF website to estimate the eligible subsidy; and
3. Please call 3120-9988 for CEF reimbursable course(s) provided by the LiPACE.

Please check the HKMU Distance Learning Courses and/or Taught Postgraduate Courses. A list of the reimbursable courses can also be obtained from the government CEF website. Besides, applicants must carefully check the requirements of the mother programme as the study programme for the CEF course(s) you registered in order to be eligible to apply for CEF reimbursement.

The University Registry will duly inform students of their registered course(s) eligibility, and the students concerned will receive Registry's e-mail seeking their submission of hardcopy of “Consent for CEF Course Participant upon Enrolment (Consent Form)” during the commencement of the academic term. Please contact Admissions & Enrolment Team (Distance Learning) of the Registry at 2768-6601/2 for enquires.

1. Please refer to "Guidance Notes for Application [SFO 312_E (2022)]" when filling in the application form.
2. Application form [SFO 313 (2022)] can be obtained from the Student Affairs Office (SAO) of HKMU, Office of Continuing Education Fund (OCEF), District Offices or downloaded from the CEF website. Applicants may also fill in the application form online in the website of GovHK and print the completed form.
3. Attention: When filling in Part B, please write "007" as the CEF Institution Code for HKMU.
4. Applicants should submit the application form to SAO* for certification first (either by post or in person). SAO will return the certified application with HKMU's stamp and a "Proof of Successful Completion of Course" to eligible applicants within 2 weeks (by post) from the date of receipt of the application.
5. Applicants should submit to OCEF* the completed application form with HKMU certification together with copies of supporting documents (including the above mentioned "Proof of Successful Completion of Course"). Applicants may also place their applications in the drop-in box on 12/F, Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices or outside the OCEF..

• SAO Address:
  Room A0626, 6/F, Cheng Yu Tung Building, Main Campus, Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong Metropolitan University
• OCEF Address:
  Units 07-11, 25/F, CDW Building, 388 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong