Opportunity knocks for undergraduates
The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) is offering 150 scholarships to promising undergraduates to cover half the cost of a bachelor's degree.
Students who have been admitted to the first or third year of the university's four-year, full-time degree this September are eligible to apply. The awarding of the scholarships will be based on previous performance in schools, examinations and community service.
Students with good grades in their university coursework will be granted a scholarship equivalent to half of the annual tuition fee at the end of the year. The highest amount of scholarship, about $90,000, will be awarded to students obtaining good results throughout the four years. The scholarships have been funded by donations from the community.
University president John Leong Chi-yan said: 'The objective of the scheme is to encourage and inspire students to aim high and work hard.'
In the past, many of the 200 full-time undergraduates have excelled in their studies and extra-curricular activities. They have shown that they are able to reach new heights regardless of their previous setback in the public exams.
The university now has places for seven full-time degree programmes for school leavers. These include Bachelor of Social Science with honours, Bachelor of Business Administration with Honours in Account, Corporate Administration or Management, Bachelor of Electronic Commerce with Honours, Bachelor of Computing with Honours and many others.
Vice-president Danny Wong Shek-nam said that OUHK introduced the distance-learning programme for adult learners when it was established in 1989.
Now, with a higher demand from young school leavers for an alternative route, OUHK decided to start the full-time degree programme three years ago.
Students finishing Form Six are eligible to apply for admission to the first year. Students with associate degrees or higher diplomas will be admitted to the third year, and they can switch to distance learning in any year. Students completing the associate degree in the first two years will pay an annual tuition fee of $42,240, whereas the third and fourth years for a bachelor's degree cost $49,400.
