Q1.
Are students receiving means-tested grants from the Student Finance Office (SFO) of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency or whose families are in receipt of the CSSA eligible for assistance under the Non-means-tested SSEBR?
Students who receive means-tested grants from the Student Finance Office (SFO) of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency or whose families are in receipt of the CSSA are eligible for assistance under the Non-means-tested SSEBR once at the same level of study. If the student has previously received subsidy under the Means-tested SSEBR at the same level of study, he/she can still receive subsidy under the Non-means-tested SSEBR provided that the objectives and eligibility criteria of the Non-means-tested SSEBR are effectively fulfilled and met.
Q2.
Are students who have previously received assistance from the Non-means-tested SSEBR eligible for assistance under the Means-tested SSEBR?
Students who have previously received assistance under the Non-means-tested SSEBR are eligible to receive subsidy under the Means-tested SSEBR once during their study in programme(s) at the same level of study in Hong Kong.
Q3.
Can postgraduate students benefit from the SSE, the Means-tested SSEBR, the Non-menas-tested MES or the Non-means-tested SSEBR?
No. All these four Subsidy Schemes are only open to students enrolling in full-time locally-accredited sub-degree or undergraduate programmes. Postgraduate students are not eligible.
Q4.
While students eligible for assistance under the SSE or the means-tested SSEBR should be in receipt of Means-tested student financial assistance from the SFO or whose families are in receipt of the CSSA, do the students have to be recipients of the relevant assistance during the full course of the same academic year in which the outbound exchange activity is held?
Not necessarily. If a student is a recipient of financial assistance under the Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students (FASP) at the time he/she applies or is nominated for an outbound exchange activity, he/she is eligible for assistance under the SSE and the Means-tested SSEBR.
For students who have not received and are not applying for financial assistance under the FASP at the time they apply or are nominated for an outbound exchange activity, they are not eligible for assistance under the SSE or the Means-tested SSEBR. In case where students have not received financial assistance under the FASP before but are applying for such financial assistance at the time they apply or are nominated for an outbound exchange activity under the SSE or the Means-tested SSEBR, participating institutions may exercise their discretion on whether to enroll the concerned students in the exchange activity. However, if the FASP applications of the students fail, the cost of the exchange activity cannot be covered by the SSE or the Means-tested SSEBR. It will have to be borne by the institutions/students/other funding sources.
Under normal circumstances, application results of the FASP will be released at the commencement of an academic year (around August/September) for continuing students in an institution and at the end of the Autumn Term of an academic year (around December/January) for new students of an institution.
Q1.
What are the eligible exchange activities under the SSE, the Means-tested SSEBR, the Non-means-tested MES and the Non-means-tested SSEBR? (New from 2024/25)
Starting from the 2024/25 academic year and onwards, the scope of eligible exchange activities has been expanded to include learning activities, internship programmes, services programmes and national/regional/international events and competitions.
Q2
While exchange activities taking place in the Mainland, Taiwan and Macao will not be regarded as eligible exchange activities under the Means-tested SSEBR and the Non-means-tested SSEBR, can they be subsidised under the SSE or the Non-means-tested MES?
a. For exchange activities taking place in the Mainland, the concerned exchange activities are eligible and students can apply the subsidy amount for the SSE or the Non-means-tested MES.
b. For exchange activities taking place in Taiwan and Macao, the concerned exchange activities are eligible and students can apply the subsidy amount for the SSE.
Q1.
Are students receiving low level of student finance (in terms of small percentage of full grant, i.e. 1-5%) approved by the SFO eligible to receive the maximum amount of subsidy offered under the SSE or the Means-tested SSEBR by adding up the subsidy amount for different destination and duration, then discounted by the adjusted financial assistance level of 50%?
Yes, and the financial assistance level to be adopted in the calculation of the maximum amount of subsidy to the student should be adjusted upward to 50%
Q2.
While students whose families are in receipt of the CSSA are eligible for assistance under the SSE or the Means-tested SSEBR, what level of financial assistance should be considered in calculating the amount of means-tested subsidy to be granted to the students?
For students who claim to be family members of CSSA recipients, institutions participating in the SSE and the Means-tested SSEBR should obtain the consent from the concerned CSSA recipients and forward the consent forms to the EDB for verification of their CSSA status with the Social Welfare Department. Subject to verification, the concerned students can be regarded as receiving 100% financial assistance. Nevertheless, the amount of subsidy granted to eligible students should not exceed the direct costs arising from their participation in the concerned exchange activity.
Q3.
Does participating institution have any discretion to adjust the subsidy amount to be granted to an eligible student under the SSE, the Means-tested SSEBR, the Non-means-tested MES and the Non-means-tested SSEBR?
Yes. Individual participating institutions may, at their full discretion, adjust the actual amount of subsidy to be granted to the student downwards from the maximum amount, having regard to the actual travelling expenses and participation fees involved in the exchange activities, other subsidy/sponsorship received by the students, etc. In principle, the amount of subsidy granted to an eligible student under these four Schemes should not exceed the direct costs arising from his/her participation in the concerned exchange activity.
Q4.
While exchange activities taking place in different destinations will be subject to different amounts of subsidy, if an exchange activity has multiple destinations spanning across "Belt and Road" and non-Belt and Road regions, how should the subsidy amount be calculated?
For an exchange activity taking place in multiple destinations, only parts of the exchange activity taking place in "Belt and Road" regions will be eligible for the Means-tested SSEBR and/or the Non-means-tested SSEBR. Duration of the exchange activity should only include days of which the parts of the exchange activity are held in "Belt and Road" regions. In principle, the amount of subsidy granted to an eligible student under the Means-tested SSEBR and the Non-means-tested SSEBR shall not exceed the direct costs arising from his/her participation in the concerned exchange activity.
List of Abbreviations | |
|---|---|
CSSA | Comprehensive Social Security Assistance |
EDB | Education Bureau |
FASP | Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students |
SSE | Scheme for Subsidy on Exchange for Post-secondary Students |
Means-tested SSEBR | Scheme for Means-tested Subsidy on Exchange to “Belt and Road” Regions for Post-secondary Students |
Non-means-tested SSEBR | Scheme for Non-means-tested Subsidy on Exchange to “Belt and Road” Regions for Post-secondary Students |
Non-means-tested MES | Non-means-tested Mainland Experience Scheme for Post-secondary Students |
SFO | Student Finance Office (SFO) of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency |
