The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, founded in 1937, is a public comprehensive research university and a degree-awarding higher education institution funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC).

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a public comprehensive research university located in Hong Kong. Founded in 1937, the University is one of the oldest universities in Hong Kong and one of the eight degree-awarding higher education institutions in Hong Kong funded by the University Grants Committee.

In the 2014 QS Asia University Rankings, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ranked 27th in Asia and 5th in Hong Kong. According to the 2015 U.S. News & World Report, the university is ranked 9th in the world and 1st in Hong Kong for engineering.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is located in Hung Hom, Kowloon, with a main campus of about 94,600 square metres, with a total of 3,621 faculty members (as of June 2014) and 32,229 students (as of September 2013). From 1937 to 2014, the school produced more than 355,000 graduates.

History

In 1937, the Hong Kong Government Advanced Technical College was established on Wood Road, Wan Chai, and was the first government-funded institution in Hong Kong to provide post-secondary engineering education.

In 1947, the Hong Kong Government Higher Technical Institute was renamed the Hong Kong Technical College to offer full-time and part-time programmes. In 1956, with a donation of $1 million from the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong and the support of the Government's funding and land allocation, the construction of the Hung Hom Campus commenced in earnest and was inaugurated by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Alexander Grantham, in 1957.

In 1965, Dr Chung Sze-yuen proposed the establishment of a polytechnic in Hong Kong at the Legislative Council session of that year. In May 1969, the Committee was established with the late Dr. Tong Ping-yuen as its chairman. The Government subsequently adopted the final report of the Committee and with the enactment of the Hong Kong Polytechnic Ordinance on 24 March 1972, the first Council of the Polytechnic was established with Dr Chung Sze-yuen as its chairman. The Governor of Hong Kong, Sir MacLehose, was invited by the Council to serve as the first Honorary Superintendent. Mr Au was appointed as the first Dean of the Polytechnic.

On 1 August 1972, the Hong Kong Polytechnic (Polytechnic) was established to take over the premises and staff of the Hong Kong Technical College. Prior to this, there were 1,700, 740 and 9,340 full-time, 740 and 9,340 full-time students in the eight teaching divisions of the Hong Kong Technical College.

Most of the technical courses offered by the Hong Kong Technical College have been transferred to the Morrison Hill Technical College, which was established in 1969, and the Polytechnic has continued to improve the quality of teaching and learning to the level of the College. In 1983, Polytechnic launched its first five bachelor's degree programmes, followed by master's and doctoral degree programmes in 1986 and 1989 respectively.

On 25 November 1994, the Polytechnic was granted self-accrediting status by the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UGC), and was renamed the "Hong Kong Polytechnic University".