New solution for students facing study abroad uncertainty

Universities in Hong Kong and Singapore are launching new schemes for students who had been accepted by universities overseas but are facing uncertainty due to coronavirus lockdowns, visa delays and travel bans.

Singapore is also offering extra places at its universities for stranded students to transfer to if they are unable to resume their studies overseas.

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) announced its ‘HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship’ for academically high-performing candidates “holding a PhD admission offer for 2020-21 from a top university in any continent”.

“Due to visa issues arising from COVID-19 or the epidemic itself, some prospective PhD students holding an admission offer from a top university may not be able to commence their studies as planned,” the university said in its announcement, noting that the competitive scholarship package “is a good alternative”.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) announced its new scheme last month offering special scholarships to doctoral students. It said its ‘CUHK Vice-Chancellors PhD Scholarship Scheme’ was set up to support students to study for a PhD at the university “after they have had to give up opportunities to study abroad because of the current pandemic and travel restrictions in various countries”, according to a university communication.

The scheme offers HK$216,300 (US$28,000) a year and an award of HK$80,000 to candidates with “outstanding academic performance”.

“Rising to the needs of its time, the CUHK Vice-Chancellor’s PhD Scholarship Scheme is broadened to cater for top students reconsidering overseas graduate programmes,” said the dean of CUHK’s Graduate School, Anthony Chan.

City University of Hong Kong has also announced a Presidential PhD Scholarship scheme worth up to HK$1.56 million (US$201,000) for a four-year doctoral programme in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), in accordance with conditions of the philanthropic donor, also open to those who had received offers at “global top universities, but have either not accepted or have declined the offer”. Candidates are required to show proof of an admission offer by a “global top university”.

Universities in Hong Kong and Singapore are hoping to benefit from their good record in controlling COVID-19 early and an easing of campus lockdowns in time for the September start of the academic year, compared to major uncertainty in countries such as the United States and Australia where recent outbreaks of COVID-19 have hit university cities such as Melbourne, Australia, and states popular with international students in the United States, such as California.

US consulates overseas have also been closed, and routine visa services suspended since 20 March, affecting visa applications, while a new uncertainty has emerged as the US administration this week announced that visas would not be issued to students enrolled in programmes that are fully online during the fall semester.

Cynthia Larive, chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, told University World News that a number of the university’s international students are in PhD and masters programmes where the major focus of their course is not on classroom learning but research. “More clarity is needed on how research counts as a course,” she said, pointing to a lack of detail in the announcement on Tuesday by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Wei Shyy, president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told University World News this week: “In the past couple of months we’ve actually seen an increase in late applications, especially on the graduate student side because, for various reasons, some students feel they are no longer as welcome elsewhere, some have difficulties to get a visa or even to find flights.

“It’s very difficult and very confusing for a lot of students,” he added.

Deadlines for applications for postgraduate studies, particularly PhDs, have been extended in Hong Kong.

Singapore

Singapore’s Ministry of Education this week said students whose overseas study plans had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic can consider alternative plans with Singapore’s universities, with some 2,000 more places being offered at undergraduate level to accommodate students who would otherwise have gone abroad, with the application deadlines extended by two months.

The ministry said universities would facilitate Singaporean students already studying at an overseas university wishing to switch to studying in Singapore.

Universities in the city-state “are prepared to take in as many of these transfer cases as they can accommodate – including for courses such as medicine – and subject to applicants meeting the admission criteria,” the ministry said in a statement issued on 6 July.

Britain’s Foreign Office has said that it is speeding up the reopening of consular services in a number of countries in order to process student visas for study in the UK, with its visa service in Singapore resuming this week.