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Tertiary Student Finance Scheme - Publicly-funded Programmes |
(formerly named as the "Local Student Finance Scheme")
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Aim
The Tertiary Student Finance Scheme – Publicly-funded Programmes (TSFS) provides means-tested financial assistance to full-time students who are in need. It aims to ensure that no eligible student who has been offered a place in one of the institutions covered by this scheme would be unable to accept it because of lack of means. Financial assistance is provided in the form of a grant and/or loan.
Eligibility
You are registered as a full-time student and take up an exclusively University Grants Committee-funded or exclusively publicly-funded student place of a *recognized courses at one of the following institutions in the 2008/09 academic year:
(For financial assistance available at the respective institutions, please refer to the homepage of the institutions by clicking the name of the institution listed above.)
* (For details of the recognized courses, please consult your institution)
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You have the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong) or have resided or have had your home in Hong Kong continuously for three complete years prior to the commencement of the course. This does not cover students staying in Hong Kong holding student visas.
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Your eligibility is restricted to only one eligible full-time course at any one time.
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If you are eligible to apply for assistance under the Tertiary Student Finance Scheme – Publicly-funded Programmes in the 2008/09 academic year, you may also apply for subsidy under the Student Travel Subsidy Scheme (STS).
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Level of Financial Assistance
Financial assistance is provided in the form of a grant and/or loan. The grant is to cover tuition fees, academic expenses and compulsory union fees. The loan is for living expenses and is interest-bearing at 2.5% per annum chargeable from the commencement of the repayment period.
- Maximum Level of Financial Assistance
The maximum amounts for the grant and the loan for the 2008/09 academic year will be provided to the institutions in about July 2008. Applicants may check with their institutions the maximum level of assistance applicable to their course of study if they so wish.
Grant
The maximum grant for a student is equal to the tuition fee (not including continuation fee for postgraduate courses) payable to the concerned local institution and academic expenses for his/her course of study plus the compulsory union fees. For students attending full-year placement / industrial training, academic expenses is not normally offered unless the institutions advise that expense related to academic study is required. Such cases will be considered on individual merits.
Loan
The maximum loan for living expenses is the same for all students. The maximum loan is $35,670 for 2008/09 applications.
- Calculation of Financial Assistance
Depending on your financial circumstances, you may be eligible for a grant and/or loan. You can calculate for yourself the likely amount that you might receive by assessing your "Adjusted Family Income"  (14KB) (AFI) against the Ready Reckoner. The Ready Reckoner shows the percentage of the maximum financial assistance for your AFI group. The resulting amount will then be further reduced by the percentage set out against the Net Asset Value per family member as shown in the "Sliding Scale of Asset Value for Discounting Grant and Loan Assistance" (13KB). If you wish to obtain a rough estimate of the amount of assistance that you could receive, you may refer to the calculator at the homepage.
Calculator for the 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 from the TSFS. Please note that the Agency will normally accept the information reported based on the documentary proof provided.
If documentary proofs provided are NOT substantiated (e.g. self-written statement of income or unexplained prolonged unemployment),
the Agency may need to make adjustments and apply benchmark figures on the basis of 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 member concerned. The Agency may apply projected figures in the family income in the assessment if necessary.
Application Procedures
- Submission of Applications
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Applicants should complete an application form for the TSFS by using the computer. The form can be downloaded from the Agency's webpage (http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/eng/public/index.htm#tsfs) Please study the Guidance Notes carefully before you complete the form.
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Applicants should return the completed application form together with photocopies of supporting documents (e.g. copies of income proof and bank accounts showing all transactions in previous financial year etc.) to his/her institution before the deadline. If applicants and their siblings are both continuing students or new students and apply for the TSFS simultaneously, they should hand in their application forms to their own institutions separately.
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The application deadlines of respective institutions are stipulated in the Guidance Notes of the TSFS.
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- Interview
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If necessary, arrangements will be made for you and your father and/or mother to be interviewed by our staff at our office.
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You will be required to bring to the interview for your examination all the originals of the following supporting documents -
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income proof, such as Employer's return of Remuneration and Pensions to Inland Revenue Department (I.R. 56B), Tax Demand Note, pay slips, properly signed Profit and Loss Accounts for business, etc.
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asset proof, such as all bank passbooks and monthly statements for savings accounts, deposit slips for time deposits, properly signed Balance Sheet for business, etc.
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receipts for medical expenses, and
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any other supporting documents as specially requested.
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Before the interview, your father or mother will be required to make a declaration at this Agency, according to the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance (Chapter 11 of the Laws of Hong Kong), that the information given in the application is true and complete.
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 - Notification of Result
In general, for application containing complete information
at the time of application, the Agency pledges to issue the notification of result to the applicants as follows -
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90% to be issued within 60 days from the date of the Agency's acknowledging receipt of application; or
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to be issued around mid-July (when the parameters for setting the maximum grants and loans are available),
whichever is the later.
When the information provided is incomplete or inconsistent, the Agency will require you to -
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give an explanation;
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provide supplementary information;
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seek additional information from your institution (e.g. the amount of studentship / placement income for students receiving studentship or attending training / placement / internship with pay, the amount of tuition fee payable for repeaters, etc.); or
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attend an interview at our office.
In these cases, the processing time will be longer than the period mentioned above as priority will then be given to handle those applications with complete information at the time of application.
- Non-means Tested Loan Scheme (NLS)
You will be informed of the financial entitlement you are entitled under the TSFS and the NLS simultaneously in your TSFS notification of result. If you wish to accept the NLS loan offered, you may obtain the required loan documents from your institution or this Agency and submit the loan documents and the bank pay-in slip for the administrative fee paid in person or authorize a person to do so on your behalf to this Agency on or before the deadline stated in your TSFS notification of results.
If you wish to apply for the NLS only, you should complete the NLS Application Form [NLS 112A(2008) or NLS 112B(2008)], in which case the administrative fee is payable upon application. You should also observe the application deadlines set out in the Application Guidance Notes for the NLS [NLS 111A(2008) or NLS 111B(2008)] and submit the completed form [NLS 112A(2008) or NLS 112B(2008)] to the Agency via your institution. The form can be downloaded from the Agency's homepage (http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/eng/public/index.htm#nls).
Payment Arrangement & Loan Documents
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The approved grant and/or loan will be paid in two equal instalments. When you complete the undertaking and deed of indemnity, you will need to state the amount of loan that you wish to accept for the whole academic year. The first instalment of grant will be credited to your bank account within four weeks from the date of issuance of the notification. If you return the undertaking and deed of indemnity by the specified deadline, the Agency will deposit the first instalment of the loan payment into your bank account within 6 weeks from the deadline. The documents we require are:
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the completed loan undertaking signed by you and attested, the completed Deed of Indemnity signed by your indemnifier and attested, the completed indemnifier details input form, copies of the Hong Kong Identity Cards of your indemnifier, witness and your own with respective holder's signature on it, and the completed authorization form if you authorize another person to hand in the above documents on your behalf. You can make use of the form printed on the last page of the 'Notice of Offer'.
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When you hand in the documents to the Agency, please also bring with you the Notification of Result of your application. |
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The second instalment of the grant and loan will be made in January or February 2009. Depending on the issuance date of notification and the date of submitting the undertaking and deed of indemnity, the financial assistance may be credited to your designated bank account in one single instalment or later than February 2009. |
Review Mechanism
If you have sufficient grounds/justification for adjusting the amount of financial assistance offered to you, you may apply to this Agency for a review of the level of financial assistance within three weeks from the date of notification of result. Each applicant may only request for a review once for each academic year. The completed "Application for Review Form", together with detailed justifications and relevant supporting documents, should be submitted to the Appeal Section of the
TSFS of this Agency. The form could be obtained from the Students Affairs Offices of the institutions concerned, the Agency, and the webpage of the Agency (http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/eng/public/index.htm#tsfs).
If after the submission of your 2008/09 Tertiary Student Finance Scheme – Publicly-funded Programmes application, there is a substantial change to the family and financial circumstances, which you consider may significantly affect the support you may obtain from your family, you may seek for a review of the amount of assistance you have already within the following deadline :
- Within three weeks from the date of issue of the notification of result;
- On or before 31.3.2009.
whichever is the later
You will be notified of the review result within 10 weeks from the date of the Agency's acknowledging receipt of the application for review. However, the processing time of your application will be longer if (a) the information provided is incomplete and the Agency requires you to give an explanation or provided supplementary information; or (b) referral to the Review Sub-Committee (RSC) for final decision is required due to special family circumstances. Members of the RSC include representatives from student unions and their institutions covered by the TSFS.
You may choose to accept the original financial assistance offered first while waiting for the result of your application for review. However, should there be grounds to demonstrate that the amount of assistance provided in the original assessment was higher than your actual entitlement, you may be required to refund the overpaid amount upon demand.
Loan Repayment
Deferment of Repayment
Students may apply for deferment of loan repayment if they have difficulties in repaying the loans due to further studies on full-time courses, financial hardship or serious illness. Applications for deferment of loan repayment will be considered on its merits and should be submitted in writing to the Agency before the due date(s) of the instalment(s) under application. Application forms can be downloaded from the Agency's webpage at
http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/eng/public/index.htm#tsfs and are available at the Agency and your institution.
Change of Personal Particulars
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If there is change in your residential address, term-time residential address, telephone number or bank account number to which the financial assistance is credited, you should notify our Agency by using the form "Notification of change of personal data" (TSF/C/18A). If there is change in your institution or course of study, or your tuition fee payable, you should notify our Agency by using the form "Notification of change of institution or course data" (TSF/C/18B).
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If you have deferred, suspend or withdrawn from your study, you should notify this Agency immediately in writing.
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If you have started repayment and have changed your residential address before you have fully repaid the grant/loan and interest, you should complete "Notification of Change of Correspondence Address" (SFAA 96) form.
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You are required to notify the Agency in writing immediately of any change of address of your indemnifier(s).
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The above forms are available at this Agency or your institution. They are also downloadable from our webpage at http://www.sfaa.gov.hk/eng/public/index.htm#tsfs.
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