Tertiary Student Finance Scheme - Publicly-funded Programmes (TSFS)

Enquiry
2152 9000

Overview

The Tertiary Student Finance Scheme - Publicly-funded Programmes (TSFS) provides means-tested financial assistance in the form of grant and/or loan to eligible full-time students taking up an exclusively University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded or publicly-funded student place of a recognised course at tertiary level.

Method of Assessment

  • Eligibility for financial assistance depends on the financial position of applicants’ family. The eligible level of assistance will be determined by a two-tier means test comprising an income test and an assets test.

    1. First tier: Income test

      • First, the Adjusted Family Income (AFI) is calculated using the gross annual family income and the number of family members by the following formula:

        AFI=

        (Gross annual family income
        -
        Deductible medical expenses (Note 1))
        Number of family members + 1 (Note 2)
        AFI= (Total family income - Deductible medical expenses)/(Number of family members + 1)
        Note:
        1.

        Only the medical expenses incurred by the applicants and/or their family members who are chronically ill or permanently incapacitated are deductible from family income. Applicants should provide the relevant medical receipts for the period from 1.4.2022 to 31.3.2023. The maximum amount of deductible medical expenses for each family member in the 2023/24 academic year is $22,790.

        2.

        For single-parent families of 2 to 3 members, the “plus 1 factor” in the divisor of the AFI formula will be increased to “plus 2”.

      • Second, the AFI would be compared with the AFI groups shown in the "Ready Reckoner under the AFI formula". The level of financial assistance to be offered will then be calculated by applying the corresponding percentage of maximum grant and loan.

    2. Second tier: Assets test

      • Assets test would be conducted if applicants have passed the income test. First, the Net Asset Value per Family Member is calculated by the following formula:

        Net Asset Value per Family Member=

        Total net value of the family’s fixed assets and liquid assets (Note 3)
        Number of family members
        Net Asset Value per Family Member= (Total net value of the family’s fixed assets and liquid assets/(number of family members)
        Note:
        3.

        Excluding the value of the family’s first home and the assets of the applicants' grandparents and siblings.

        Debts of family members are not deductible from the total value of family assets.

      • After that, the level of financial assistance calculated from the income test will be adjusted based on the Net Asset Value per Family Member of the family by applying the corresponding discount factor of the asset group shown in the "Sliding Scale of Asset Value for Discounting Financial Assistance".