University chiefs want the government to fund a bigger proportion of the cost of teaching students for an extra year than it previously indicated it would pay.
They say the University Grants Committee (UGC) should pay institutions at least 75 per cent of the current cost of educating each student in the first year of four-year courses, which begin in 2012. Undergraduate degrees in Hong Kong currently take three years' study.
In 2004, the government proposed that HK$1.8 billion per year - equal to about 62.5 per cent of the current unit cost per student - be provided for the extra year. The Heads of Universities Committee (HUCOM) then endorsed the figure.
The Education Bureau is expected to make a final decision this year on the level of funding for the extra year of study.
HUCOM convenor Tony Chan Fan-cheong, who is president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said: 'What we were asking from the UGC - and the UGC has endorsed it - is 75 per cent. I am calling on the government to meet the UGC's 75 per cent recommendation in order to maintain the quality of higher education in Hong Kong.
'If they don't, they will be selling out the young people of Hong Kong.'
Chan said the one thing HKUST wanted was to maintain the faculty-to-student ratio. There was a chance of doing that if the UGC paid 75 per cent of per-student costs, but not if it paid 62.5 per cent.
An Education Bureau spokeswoman said: 'The government will consider whether this request is justified and practicable.'
HKUST took steps to boost private donations, but Chan said private fund-raising could not be expected to cover recurrent funding.
HKUST Provost Professor Shyy Wei said its unit cost per student was HK$200,000 per year and, with an annual intake of 1,800 students, the university would lose HK$90 million per year if it received only 75 per cent of the unit costs and HK$135 million if it received only 62.5 per cent.