Bulletin Spring 1988

pants in the survey believed that their chosen major would lead to promising careers. Examination results have played a part in the choice of majors for 58.3% of the freshmen, and 22.5% of them were influenced by family expectations. About 96% of the respondents hoped to study a subject of their own interest in university. Some 87% also expected to gain from university education not only specialized training in their chosen fields but also assistance in perfecting their human nature. About 76% of the students place emphasis on acquiring an all-round education, while most of them also expressed a keen interest in extracurricular activities. Nearly 89% suggested that they would participate in academic activities outside the formal curriculum. Some 79% of them expressed interest in sports and games, while 77% preferred activities related to arts and crafts, and 44% in Student Union activities. As regards the future employment sectors the freshmen expressed preference, 34.1% cited the business sector as their top priority, 26.4% preferred civil services, and 18.2% education. Part-time Degree Programmes Freshmen of the Part-time Degree Programmes are different from their full-time counterparts in a variety of ways. They are older, with an age range between 23 and 43, while the average is 27.8 years. Female and male are about equally represented, there being 2.8% more women than men. Over half of the male students were admitted to the Business Administration Programme while nearly 40% of the female students enrolled in the Chinese-English Programme. Unlike their full-time counterparts, a large proportion of these part-time students are married (36.6%). Of these 44.2% have one or more children. 39% of the new students reported that they had, at one time or another, attended post-secondary institutions after secondary schooling, while 29.6% had already graduated from Colleges of Education. About 17% took courses organized by various institutions, such as the extramural courses offered by the two universities. The 1987 entrants to the Part-time Degree Programmes appeared to be a group of highly motivated learners, judging from the survey. The new part-time students come from four major occupational sectors. Some 32% of them work in various government units, 28.9% come from the education sector, 21.1% from commerce and industry, and 12% serve in various social service organizations. Most of these students have chosen to enrol in a subject that relates to their work. 53.7% of students enrolled in the Chinese-English Programme, and 85.8% of those in the Music Programme are from the teaching profession. In the Social Work Programme, over half of the students are in-service social workers. Finally, 82.7% of the students in the Business Administration Programme come from the commerce and industry sector. Nearly half of the students (49.3%) have had fewer than five years of working experience, while 20.4% of them have worked over ten years. About a quarter of the new students have monthly salaries below $6,000 while 31.7% earn over $9,000 per month, the average being $7,478.5. As for the financing of university education, over 88% of the respondents reported that the major source of the fund came from their own personal income, followed by savings (7%). 14