Compass
The guide
Hong Kong
Hong Kong SAR · Asia-Pacific
A finance and legal centre where the universities teach in English and rank among Asia's strongest.
Who this suits, and who it doesn’t
Suits you if you want a top-ranked English-taught degree inside Asia with scholarship support, aiming at finance, law or technology. Look elsewhere if you need space and low costs, or if you want long-term political predictability — the landscape of which employers base themselves here has changed.
The catch, and the way in
The catch
Living costs are high and housing is small; the political picture has changed which employers set up here.
The way in
HKU, HKUST and CUHK all run scholarship schemes for international undergraduates. Compass models Hong Kong admissions.
Living there
What living here is actually like
Vertical, fast and startlingly efficient — the transport system is among the best anywhere and you are never far from either a skyscraper or a hiking trail. Apartments are genuinely small, smaller than newcomers picture. Humid subtropical summers with typhoon season, and a city that mixes Cantonese daily life with international business at close quarters.
How the money works
Among the most expensive housing markets in the world, and that single line dominates the budget; university accommodation, where you can get it, is the difference between viable and not. Tuition for internationals is moderate compared with the US or UK, and the universities run real scholarship schemes — those two facts are what make it work financially.Described in shape rather than figures on purpose: rents and salaries move every year and we cannot keep numbers true, but what is expensive and what quietly eats income stays true for far longer.
The language you actually need
Universities teach in English and business runs in English, so study and professional life are accessible without Chinese. Cantonese is the language of daily life; Mandarin is increasingly useful. You can function in English and will feel the limit of it socially.
The work that clusters here
Fields with a real market in this city
Business & Economics · Law · Computer Science · Medicine & Health