Tuition fees at public universities will increase by HK$2,400 next year, with further rises of around the same amount planned for each of the following two years.

After an almost three-decade-long freeze in annual fees, the current HK$42,100 charge for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes will rise to HK$44,500 in 2025/26, HK$47,000 in 2026/27 and HK$49,500 in 2027/28 – an increase of almost 17.6 percent over the three years.

For sub-degree programmes, the current HK$15,040 will reach HK$17,800 by 2027.

A government spokesperson on Thursday said the administration is working to strike a balance between maintaining its fiscal discipline and ensuring that higher education remains affordable for students.

"Since the last tuition fees adjustment in the 1997/98 academic year, the Composite Consumer Price Index has increased by 40 percent cumulatively. Comparatively, the tuition fees adjustment is very modest this time," it said.

"The UGC-funded universities provide other financial assistance such as scholarships, bursaries and loans to needy students to ensure that no qualified students will be denied access to higher education due to financial difficulties."

The administration also said its target cost recovery rate for tuition fee levels of 18 percent, set in the early 1990s, had been declining due to more expenditure being needed to deliver higher education.

The rate is projected to drop to 12.5 percent in the next academic year, before improving slightly in 2027 to 13.4 percent following the tuition fee increases, the spokesperson said.

Chief Secretary Eric Chan stressed that the decision to put up fees has nothing to do with the government's budget deficit.

"We haven't adjusted the tuition fee for more than 20 years, so we believe there is a need to moderately adjust the tuition fee. Our goal is to subsidise students with 82 percent of their tuition fee, but we are above this target," he told reporters.

"Our plan is to increase the fees in the upcoming three years. We don't have any plan to increase the fees after three years."

Think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation welcomed the move, while calling for more support for students from lower-income families.

"The 5.5 percent [average annual increase] is somewhat mild, because we are talking about inflation of about two to three percent. We are just slightly above that, trying to catch up a little bit, in terms of the cost recovery," said Victor Kwok, the group's assistant research director.

"Obviously, on the other hand, as they gradually increase the tuition fees, they also have to proportionally increase their support, in terms of students loans, and in terms of student grants, for students from relatively less well-off families."