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

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 involving family income and assets.

  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)}

       Note:

       1.

       Only the medical expenses incurred by the applicants and/or their family members who are chronically ill or permanently incapacitated are deductible. Applicants should provide the relevant medical receipts for the period from 1.4.2021 to 31.3.2022. The maximum amount of deductible medical expenses for each family member in the 2022/23 academic year is $22,300.

       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 against the "Ready Reckoner under the AFI formula" to get the corresponding percentage of financial assistance. Then the percentage is applied to calculate the amount of eligible grant and living expenses 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

       Note:

       3.

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

       Debts of family members cannot be deducted from the total value of family assets.

     • After that, the Net Asset Value per Family Member is compared against the "Sliding Scale of Asset Value for Discounting Financial Assistance" to get the discount factor for further adjusting the level of assistance calculated from the income test above in order to get the final level of grant and living expenses loan.