Non-Local Tuition and the Vet-Med "Premium" — 2025/26 and 2026/27 Rates

"So how much does CityU actually cost?" For non-local students — from mainland China and elsewhere — this is the core question before they even apply. And hidden inside the answer is a trap that is easy to miss: choose the wrong programme and the tuition bill can differ by a factor of ten. This article sets out CityU's recent non-local undergraduate tuition rates, drawing on public sources, and gives particular attention to that trap — the sky-high fees for the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM). Local-student fees, scholarships and fee waivers are covered in Tuition Fees and Entry Scholarships.

# 1. How to read the figures (read this first)

# 2. Non-local undergraduate tuition (general programmes): the last four years

According to the CityU fees page for international students^※:

So in the space of a single year, non-local undergraduate tuition has risen from roughly HK$170,000 to roughly HK$190,000 — a year-on-year increase of roughly 11.8% — consistent with the "reviewed annually, raised steadily" pattern. For applicants, the implication is clear: the tuition you pay in the year you enter is not fixed for the whole programme. Later years will very likely cost more, so budget accordingly.

Pull the timeline back further and it becomes clear that the climb did not begin in 2025/26. According to a 2024 report by Bauhinia Magazine^※ and media collations, non-local undergraduate tuition at CityU was roughly HK$145,000 in 2023/24, then rose to roughly HK$160,000 in 2024/25 (an increase of about 10.3%). These two figures come from media reports rather than from CityU's own archived official pages verified for this article, so their reliability is: multiple corroboration. Combined with the two more recent years (2025/26 and 2026/27, both verified against official sources), the full table looks like this:

On this basis, between 2023/24 and 2026/27, CityU's non-local undergraduate tuition rose by roughly 31% in total — far outpacing local-student tuition over the same period, which stayed frozen at HK$42,100 until the run of small three-year adjustments began in 2025/26 (see Tuition Fees and Entry Scholarships). CityU is not alone here. According to a January 2025 report by DotDotNews^※, 2025/26 was the first academic year in which all eight UGC-funded universities raised non-local tuition "collectively". That year CUHK posted the largest increase at 22.8% (up to HK$178,000); HKU raised fees by discipline tier in the HK$16,000–36,000 range; PolyU and HKBU each rose about 9.4% (to HK$175,000); and CityU's 6.3% increase was relatively mild by comparison — but entering 2026/27, CityU has caught up with a larger move of about 11.8%, as the cross-university comparison in the next section shows.

# 3. Cross-university comparison: where does CityU sit among the eight?

Looking only at CityU's own fee curve can create the impression that fees are running out of control. But placed on the grid of all eight UGC-funded universities in Hong Kong, CityU's non-local undergraduate tuition actually sits in the lower-middle band. The table below is compiled from each university's official website for 2026/27 (or the latest published rate):

So CityU charges the lowest non-local tuition of these five major UGC-funded universities — about HK$59,000 a year less than HKU's STEM band, a gap that can accumulate to roughly HK$236,000 over a four-year programme. For budget-sensitive applicants, this cross-university difference is itself one practical factor when choosing where to apply — though it should go without saying that a higher price tag does not automatically mean better teaching or career outcomes. Programme rankings, location, and scholarship coverage all need to be weighed in as well.

# 4. The BVM's "premium tuition"

CityU has one tuition "special case" that routinely takes applicants by surprise: the six-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) charges non-local students far more than the general programmes. According to the CityU Admissions BVM page^※:

Why is veterinary tuition so high? This is not CityU trying to gouge students; it reflects the cost structure of veterinary education:

• Clinical facilities are extremely expensive. An undergraduate veterinary degree has to be built around teaching-hospital-grade facilities (the CityU Veterinary Medical Centre is equipped with 1.5T MRI and 64-slice CT; see 11-medical-hospital/veterinary-medical-centre.md). The equipment and operating costs far exceed those of ordinary programmes.
• Low staff-to-student ratios and intensive individual attention. Clinical rotations and hands-on training require small classes and heavy faculty input.
• The compliance cost of international accreditation. The BVM holds dual accreditation from the AVBC and the RCVS, and maintaining those standards requires ongoing investment.

In other words, the high price of veterinary medicine is, to a large extent, the price of a rare bundle: the only veterinary school in Hong Kong + international dual accreditation + a teaching hospital.

# Putting it in global perspective: is CityU's veterinary programme expensive?

"HK$392,000 a year" sounds alarming on its own. But veterinary education is a globally recognised high-cost discipline, and CityU is hardly unique. For comparison, here are the published tuition figures of two internationally renowned veterinary schools:

On this comparison, CityU's BVM charges less per year than Cornell (out-of-state) or the Royal Veterinary College's international rate — it is only because the programme is so much longer (six years, two more than Cornell and one more than the RVC) that the cumulative total feels so heavy. In other words, the "premium" label is a misplaced comparison against other local programmes in Hong Kong; within the global spectrum of veterinary tuition, CityU is not the most expensive tier. This international comparison does not change the real burden of a six-year total exceeding HK$2 million, but it should help applicants calibrate expectations — neither being scared off by a single figure, nor assuming CityU is charging foreigners through the nose just because it can.

# Fees go up; applications go up too

According to CityU's own November 2025 report^※, the BVM's 2025 intake was its "most international" cohort to date, drawing students from Germany, Italy, South Africa, Jordan, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, mainland China and Macao — at precisely the time non-local fees were in the run of consecutive increases described in the previous section. Rising fees and a growing international applicant pool happened at the same time, which suggests the BVM's rare profile — "the only veterinary school in Hong Kong + dual accreditation + immediate practice eligibility" — retains enough market appeal to absorb the price increases. The companion article A Complete Guide to BVM Admissions examines admissions scale and competition in further detail.

# 5. What this means for applicants: budgeting, financing and scholarships

1. Budget on "annual increases + full programme length". Don't just look at Year 1. Estimate the cumulative tuition over the whole programme (four or six years) and leave room for annual reviews — judging by the trend in Section 2, non-local fees have risen by roughly a tenth a year over the past four years, so for a four-year programme it is prudent to assume the final year will cost 10–20% more than the first.
2. Veterinary medicine is a separate financial track entirely. BVM applicants face a completely different order of tuition from the general programmes and need their own financial plan — do not try to fit it into the "four years and done" budgeting frame used for ordinary degrees.
3. Cross-university comparison is useful, but not the only criterion. Section 3 shows CityU is relatively "cheap" among the eight on non-local fees, but school choice should still weigh programme rankings, hostel supply, location and your own career plans; don't reshuffle your preference order on fees alone.
4. Scholarships can change the real cost dramatically. CityU offers various entry scholarships to outstanding non-local students (see Tuition Fees and Entry Scholarships and Non-Local / Mainland / International Students); the top tier can cover full tuition plus a living allowance. The BVM additionally has flagship scholarships covering tuition and hostel fees, with extra funding for a Cornell exchange (see A Complete Guide to BVM Admissions). The net cost can be far below the "sticker price", so research scholarship opportunities alongside the fees rather than filtering yourself out on the listed rate alone.
5. Don't forget living costs on top of tuition. Beyond fees, non-local students need to budget for hostel or off-campus housing, food, books and insurance. These costs are not uniformly verified within the fee scope of this article, and estimates from universities and media vary considerably, so plan separately on the basis of the "living cost guidelines" the university issues after enrolment and your own circumstances (hostel vs off-campus renting) — don't lock in a budget from vague figures circulating online.

# 6. Summary

• CityU's general non-local undergraduate tuition is about HK$170,000 for 2025/26 and HK$190,000 for 2026/27^※, reviewed annually and rising year on year, billed on a roughly 9-month academic year. Over the longer run, the cumulative increase from 2023/24 to 2026/27 is about 31%, and 2025/26 was the first year all eight UGC-funded universities raised non-local fees together.
• Cross-university comparison: among CUHK, HKU, PolyU and CityU, CityU's non-local undergraduate tuition sits in the lowest band (about HK$190,000 in 2026/27, below PolyU's roughly HK$200,000, CUHK's roughly HK$214,000, and HKU's HK$224,000–249,000).
• The BVM's non-local tuition is far higher than CityU's general programmes: about HK$350,000 for 2025 entry and HK$392,000 per year for 2026 entry^※, on a six-year programme with a substantial cumulative cost — reflecting the high cost structure and rare profile of veterinary education. Yet within the global veterinary tuition spectrum, its annual fee remains below Cornell (out-of-state) and the Royal Veterinary College's international rate, and the international applicant pool grew even while fees were rising.
• Applicants should budget on "annual increases + full programme length"; veterinary medicine is a separate financial track; scholarships can significantly lower the net cost; and cross-university comparisons are a useful reference but not the sole criterion for choosing a programme.