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Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students (FASP) The Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students (FASP) provides means-tested financial assistance to needy full-time students pursuing locally-accredited, self-financing post-secondary education programmes which will lead to a qualification at sub-degree (i.e. associate degree, higher diploma and/or professional diploma) level or above. The scheme aims to assist needy students in paying tuition fees, academic expenses and living expenses so that no eligible students are denied access to post-secondary education because of lack of means. Financial assistance is provided in the form of grant and loan. You will be eligible to apply for FASP in the 2008/09 academic year if you
Your eligibility is restricted to only one eligible full-time course in any particular academic year. Full-time students of exclusively University Grants Committee-funded or exclusively publicly-funded places covered by the Tertiary Student Finance Scheme - Publicly-funded Programmes (TSFS) are not eligible for assistance under the FASP. @ You should use Form G / Form S to submit your application * You should use Form D to submit your application Applicants who pass both the income test and the asset test will be offered grant and loan. The maximum level of financial assistance under FASP is made up of the following components:
The ceilings of the above assistance will be reviewed annually. Calculation of Financial Assistance Your eligibility for financial assistance depends on the financial position of your family. Your level of assistance will be determined by a two-tier means test, details as follows-
You may have a rough idea of your entitled financial assistance by trying the calculator in the Agency's Homepage. Calculator for level of Financial Assistance There is a calculator to enable you to obtain a rough assessment of the amount of financial assistance you might obtain under FASP. Please note that the Agency will normally accept reported information which is supported by documentary proofs.. If proper documentary proofs cannot be provided or the documents provided cannot substantiate the reported income/asset information of the family concerned (e.g. claim for prolonged unemployment is not substantiated or only self-written statement of income is provided), the Agency may need to make adjustments and apply benchmark figures based on the statistical information provided by the relevant government departments, such as the Census and Statistics Department, the Rating and Valuation Department, and the Transport Department etc. to assess the income and/or net value of the assets held by the family members concerned. The Agency may apply projected figures in the assessment of family income if necessary.
In general, for application containing complete information at the time of application, notifications of result will be issued within 60 days from the date of the Agencyˇ¦s acknowledging receipt of application. Please note that notification of result for the means-tested loans for living expenses can only be issued starting from end-2008. When the information provided is incomplete or inconsistent, the Agency will - For such cases, the processing time will be longer. In processing applications, the Agency will accord priority to applications with complete information at the time of application. Financial assistance will normally be paid in two equal instalments. If you accept the grant and/or loan offered under FASP, you have to submit the following documents to the Agency in person on or before the deadline as specified in the notification of result:
Please refer to the 'Notice of Offer' for the qualifications of an indemnifier or a witness. When you hand in the documents to the Agency, please also bring with you the notification of result of your application. When you complete the undertaking and related documents, you must state the amount of grant and/or loan that you wish to accept for the whole academic year. If you return the undertaking and deed of indemnity by the specified deadline, the Agency will credit the first instalment of grant and/or loan payment to your designated bank account within 6 weeks from the deadline. If you miss the deadline, payment of the financial assistance will be deferred to the next batch scheduled 4 weeks later. The second instalment of financial assistance will normally be paid in January or February 2009. Depending on the date of issue of the notification of result and the date of submission of the undertaking and deed of indemnity, the financial assistance may be credited to your designated bank account in one single instalment or at a date later than February 2009. If you have valid grounds / justification for application for review of your level of financial assistance, you may do so within three weeks from the date of notification of result. Each applicant may submit only one application for review for each academic year. The application for review, together with detailed justifications and relevant supporting documents, should be submitted to this Agency via the "Application Form for Review under FASP" obtainable from the institutions concerned, the Agency, and the Homepage of the Agency (http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/eng/public/index.htm#fasp). Application for review in the 2008/09 academic year must be lodged within three weeks from the date of notification of result. However, if there is substantial change in the financial circumstances of your family after the submission of application which may significantly affect the financial support you receive from your family, you may submit an application for review by the following deadline:
In general, you will be notified of the result of review within 10 weeks from the date of the Agency's acknowledging receipt of your application for review. However, the processing time will be longer if (a) the information provided is incomplete and the Agency requires you to give further explanation or provide supplementary information; or (b) the case has to be referred to the Review Committee (RC) for flexible treatment/final decision in view of special financial circumstances involved. The Review Committee is composed of institution representatives and student union representatives of the institutions covered by FASP. You may choose to accept the financial assistance first without waiting for the result of your application for review. Should you do so and if the level of financial assistance after review is higher than the original offer, the Agency will arrange to pay you the difference. On the other hand, if subsequent processing of your application for review indicates that the amount of assistance offered in the original assessment was higher than your actual entitlement, you will be required to refund the Agency the overpaid amount upon request. If a grant recipient fails to complete an accredited programme and obtain the intended qualification** recognised under FASP within 6 years from the first disbursement of financial assistance for whatever reasons, the grant shall be repaid in one lump sum without interest (but should be repaid before the commencement date of repayment by instalments, i.e. three months immediately preceding the due date of the first quarterly repayment instalment), or by 40 equal quarterly instalments with interest at 2.5% per annum within a period of 10 years upon -
whichever is earlier. ** For grant recipient pursuing sub-degree studies, they must obtain a sub-degree (i.e. associate degree, higher diploma and/or professional diploma) or above qualification. For sub-degree graduates pursuing degree/ top-up degree studies, they must obtain a degree/ top-up degree or above qualification. If you have received tuition fees loan (TF loan) under FASP in the 2005/06 academic year or before, you will be required to repay the TF loan and interest at 2.5% per annum in full in 40 equal quarterly instalments within a period of 10 years upon -
whichever is the earliest. If you have received living expenses loan (LE loan) under FASP in and after the 2008/09 academic year, you will be required to repay the LE loan and interest at 2.5% per annum in full in 20 equal quarterly instalments within a period of 5 years upon -
whichever is the earliest. If a grant / loan recipient ceases to be a registered full-time student or withdraws from / suspends / defers his studies before graduation from the institution, he is required to start repayment of his grant and loan immediately. The length of the repayment period and its commencement dates shall be decided by the Controller, SFAA. The first quarterly repayment instalment will normally be due on 1 January of the year following your year of graduation / termination of studies. If you do not receive notification of commencement of repayment and repayment schedule within 6 months after graduation or termination of studies, you should notify this Agency in writing immediately. Quarterly repayment instalments will be due on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October each year. The quarterly demand notes will be issued, as far as practicable, on the first working day of each of the months preceding the due months. If repayment of any instalment is delayed by 7 days or more, you will be required to repay to the Government the amount of the overdue instalment together with a surcharge of 5% thereof and any recovery costs incurred by the Government due to the late payment. Non-receipt of the demand note for repayment does not exempt a grant/loan recipient from the requirement to repay the instalment due on or before the due date. If a demand note is not received 7 days before each due date, you should approach the Agency via 2156 1157 or come to the Agency to obtain a duplicate copy of the demand note without delay. Default in repayment may give cause for the Government instituting legal proceedings against you / your indemnifier(s) in order to recover the outstanding grant(s) / loan(s) and interest plus surcharge and any recovery costs incurred by the Government. You may apply for lump sum repayment anytime. For lump sum repayment before commencement of the repayment period (i.e. three months immediately preceding the due date of the first quarterly repayment instalment), only the principal of the grant or loan will have to be repaid, i.e. without interest. For lump sum repayment during the repayment period, the principal of the grant or loan outstanding since the last quarter, plus interest on the amount for the current quarter up to the date immediately preceding the settlement date, plus any unpaid surcharge / interest / recovery costs relating to the previous instalment(s), shall be paid. To apply for lump sum repayment of FASP grant or loan, you may either:
For application by fax, the date and time of fax received by the Agency will be treated as the date and time of application. For application by post, the postmark date on the envelope will be regarded as the date of application. Please note that all applications for lump sum repayment must be applied in person or submitted in written form. No telephone request would be entertained. The amount payable must be settled on or before the due date set out in the demand note. Please
click here Repayment can be made : -
FASP recipients, who encounter difficulties in repaying the financial assistance due to full-time studies, financial hardship or serious sickness, may apply to the Agency for deferment of repayment. Applications for deferment of repayment of financial assistance will be considered on merits of individual cases. For applications for deferment of repayment of LE loan (i.e. loan offer in the 2008/09 academic year and beyond), repayment will be made in 20 equal quarterly instalments within a period of 5 years or on any other terms as decided by the C, SFAA. For applications for deferment of repayment of grant or TF loan (i.e. loan offer in the 2005/06 academic year or before), repayment must be made within 10 years. In other words, repayment of grant or loan will be made on a revised schedule with fewer number of quarterly instalments but at a higher amount per instalment or on any other terms as decided by the C, SFAA. Interest will not accrue during the deferment period, which is from three months immediately preceding the start date of the approved deferment to three months immediately preceding the date of resumption of repayment. Applications should be submitted in writing to the Agency before the due date(s) of the instalment(s) under application. For application by fax, the date of receipt of the fax will be treated as the date of application. For application by post, the postmark date on the envelope will be regarded as the date of application. Application forms are available at the Agency, the Agency's Homepage (http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/eng/public/index.htm) and your institution. Change of Personal Particulars
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(18KB) to get the first percentage of grant/ loan, then apply this percentage to (i) the tuition fee payable; and (ii) academic expenses grant capped at $3,050; and (iii) living expenses loan capped at $35,670.