CityU Colleges and Academic Departments: An Overview

Module: 01 Academics · Sub-file: Overview of Colleges An announcement in September 2024 moved CityU's Department of Computer Science out of the College of Engineering and into a brand-new College of Computing, together with two other departments; four months later, another reorganisation created the College of Biomedicine. Two rounds of dismantling and rebuilding colleges within two years is unusual even among Hong Kong's eight UGC-funded universities. City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK / 城大; founded as the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong in 1984, granted university status in 1994) uses a dual-track naming system of College and School; as of mid-2026, the University's academic units number 7 Colleges + 3 Schools + 1 graduate school^※. This article sets out each college's positioning, constituent departments, and scale, followed by a complete bilingual list of all departments. For the academic system and general education, see academic-system.md; for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, see programs.md.

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# 1. Current Structure at a Glance (mid-2026)

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# 2. College-by-College Overview

# 1. College of Business

CityU's College of Business is the first business school in Greater China to be accredited simultaneously by AACSB International, EQUIS and AMBA — the "triple crown"^※. It comprises 6 departments: Accountancy; Decision Analytics and Operations; Economics and Finance; Information Systems; Management; and Marketing. It offers BBA, MBA, EMBA, professional master's and doctoral programmes. For an in-depth look, see business-school-triple-crown.md.

# 2. College of Computing

Established 1 September 2024, bringing together three departments^※: the Department of Computer Science (formerly in the College of Engineering), the Department of Data Science (restructured from the former School of Data Science) and the Department of Biostatistics (formerly in the College of Science). The College positions itself as a cross-disciplinary research hub spanning computer science, data science and statistics, with a focus on AI-driven data computation. For details, see college-of-computing-2024.md.

# 3. College of Engineering

One of CityU's larger colleges, with 5 departments: Architecture and Civil Engineering; Electrical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Materials Science and Engineering; and Systems Engineering. Materials science and electrical engineering are the strongest areas^※. The Department of Computer Science was transferred to the College of Computing in 2024. For details, see college-of-engineering-departments.md.

# 4. College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS)

Comprising 7 academic units^※: the Departments of Chinese and History; English; Linguistics and Translation; Media and Communication; Public and International Affairs; and Social and Behavioural Sciences, plus the Chan Feng Men-ling Chan Shuk-lin Language Centre. It covers the full spectrum of the humanities and social sciences. For an in-depth look, see deepdive-liberal-arts-socsci.md; for the Department of Linguistics and Translation specifically, see translation-and-linguistics-clta.md.

# 5. College of Science

Comprising 3 departments: Chemistry; Mathematics; and Physics^※. The biomedical sciences unit formerly in this College has moved to the College of Biomedicine, and biostatistics to the College of Computing. See also college-of-computing-2024.md.

# 6. College of Biomedicine

Established 1 January 2025, with three departments — Biomedical Sciences; Biomedical Engineering; and Neuroscience^※ — the College is positioned as an interdisciplinary teaching and research unit in biomedicine and health. Its academic side is covered in the relevant science/life-sciences articles; for the clinical/hospital side, see docs/11.

# 7. Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences (JCC)

Hong Kong's only veterinary school, run in partnership with Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. It offers a six-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) as well as life-science programmes. Its two departments are Infectious Diseases and Public Health; and Veterinary Clinical Sciences^※. Academic aspects are covered in veterinary-college-academics.md; clinical/teaching hospital matters, in docs/11.

# 8. School of Creative Media (SCM)

The first school of creative media in the region^※, blending media arts, computer science, visual design, creative writing, cultural studies and digital technology. It is based at the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre (opened 2011). For details, see creative-media.md.

# 9. School of Energy and Environment (SEE)

Established in July 2009^※, it is Hong Kong's first academic unit devoted to energy and the environment, offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in energy science and engineering, and environmental science and engineering. See school-of-energy-and-environment.md.

# 10. School of Law (SLW)

One of Hong Kong's three law schools qualifying graduates for the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL); it offers the LLB, JD, PCLL and LLM, among others, and was the first law school in Hong Kong to offer the JD^※. See school-of-law.md.

# 11. Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies

Founded in 1994^※, it coordinates the development and administration of all taught and research postgraduate programmes University-wide. For an overview of postgraduate programmes, see programs.md; for research degrees and doctoral training, see doctoral-graduate-studies-school.md.

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# 3. Complete List of Departments (by College)

# 1. College of Business (6 departments)

# 2. College of Computing (3 departments)

# 3. College of Engineering (5 departments)

# 4. College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) (6 departments + 1 language centre)

CLASS comprises 7 academic units^※ in total (6 departments + 1 language centre).

# 5. College of Science (3 departments)

# 6. College of Biomedicine (3 departments)

The College of Biomedicine was established on 1 January 2025^※.

# 7. Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences (JCC) (2 departments)

# 8. Single-unit Schools (no constituent departments)

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# Summary

Under the current structure, CityU's constituent departments add up as follows: Business 6 + Computing 3 + Engineering 5 + CLASS 6 (plus a language centre) + Science 3 + Biomedicine 3 + JCC 2 = 28 teaching departments, plus 3 single-unit schools and 1 graduate school. For each department's research strengths and programmes, see the individual in-depth articles (cross-referenced at the end of this piece).

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