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compared with over 25 percent in each of its main com-
petitors — Britain, Australia and Canada. For now, alas,
growth is the last thing anyone expects. The risk is both
that the number of foreigners who turn up this autumn will
fall sharply, and of a longer-lasting depression caused by
future applicants turning to countries that are more wel-
coming than America.
The big question is who might suffer the most if there is
a bust. Ultra-elite institutions may look exposed: around 28
percent of Harvard’s students and a whopping 40 percent
at Columbia come from abroad. But these institutions have
many ways to balance the books. Last year tuition fees (both
domestic and foreign) and payments for room and board
made up only about 20 percent of Harvard’s total income,
compared with over 80 percent at least prestigious private
universities. Demand for admission into the highest-rank- Hang Seng University, Hong Kong campus vista
ing universities is rarely affected by a slowdown and their
home-grown students could pay more. The trouble might students by tens of thousands. UGC-funded programmes
be greater for second-and third-tier institutions, where for- accounted for 61 percent of enrolments in 2023-24, down
eign students are not quite so numerous but are often more from about 66 percent in 2018-19, according to the annual
important to the bottom line. reports of the universities that routinely publish their full
A pronounced slowdown in overseas arrivals could dam- student numbers.
age institutions, even those that have never enrolled a single Gerry Postiglione, emeritus professor at the University
foreigner. If highly regarded universities adapt by enrolling of Hong Kong, says the sector’s growth is no surprise. Hong
more local students, that will make it harder for institutions Kong’s universities had been the “stars” of the pandemic pe-
with lesser reputations to attract them, and thus to pay their riod, improving their rankings at a time of severe economic
bills. In Britain, changes to visa rules have recently brought upheaval — partly because they had benefited from an in-
sharp falls in arrivals of foreign students. Last year, about flux of top academics fleeing a US crackdown on mainland
40 percent of universities predicted operating deficits. Chinese scientists during the first Trump presidency.
This would not be a problem if it were to put shoddy Postiglione says that while Hong Kong universities will
and unpopular institutions out of business. But it is a worry increasingly seek enrolments from abroad, mainland China
if it leads to regional “cold spots” in which affordable de- is a natural source. Its students are enticed by the terri-
grees become difficult to find. Or if it benefits complacent tory’s lifestyle, its highly ranked universities and its one-
incumbents that trade on their reputation rather than their year Master’s programmes — unlike the two-to-three-year
teaching. Trump’s war on the Ivy League could have much duration typical on the mainland.
wider effects than he bargained for. And while Hong Kong is renowned for its financial and
legal systems, its universities are key to the territory’s role
HONG KONG as a “super connector to the rest of the world”. It’s a small
Private varsities boom but powerful higher education system in the only city in
China that has an official policy of bilingualism.
HONG KONG IS EXPERIENCING A BOOM IN
private and self-funded higher education as global SOUTH KOREA
tensions and buoyant demand fuel the territory’s Structural innovation
ascension as an international education hub.
The number of private universities in Hong Kong has A COVETED PLACE AT SEOUL NATIONAL Uni-
quadrupled in seven years. Hang Seng University’s 2018 versity (SNU), Korea University (KU) or Yonsei
conversion from a management college has given it equal University (YU) — the country’s top three univer-
billing to Shue Yan University, which pursued a similar tra- sities, known collectively as SKY — is the passport to the
jectory 12 years earlier. Since then, two other private institu- best jobs and social elite status.
tions have attained university status: Hong Kong Metropoli- Jinsang Kim, president of Kyung Hee University, is keen
tan University in 2021 and Saint Francis University in 2024. to see his institution, which is currently ranked #9 in the
Meanwhile, self-funded enrolments have soared in the country, reach the same level of prestige. While it might
city’s eight public universities. Statistics from the University sound fanciful, it’s not just an idea but a timestamped plan.
Grants Committee (UGC), which only tallies government- “Our school wants to go to the top level… in four years,” he
subsidised enrolments, understate the true numbers of told Times Higher Education.

JULY 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 71