University of Hong Kong School of Professional and Continuing Education

The University of Hong Kong School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU SPACE) is a private post-secondary education institution in Hong Kong. The school is a private subsidiary of the publicly-funded University of Hong Kong. The school specialises in professional education, as well as providing degree-awarding courses in partnership with overseas universities.

History
In the early 1950s, it became apparent that there was a need for further education opportunities in Hong Kong. The findings of the Keswick Report (1952) and the Jennings-Logan Report (1953) provided recommendations to the British Hong Kong government to establish a new department aimed at providing adult-education programmes. On 21 May 1957, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) established the Department of Extra-Mural Studies with an enrollment of 330 students. The Department's purpose was partly to develop and run courses to meet the needs of the growing city. These courses included library studies in response to the opening of the first library in the territory, and housing management to cope with the growing housing crises which plagued the city in the 1960s.

In January 1992, the Department was renamed the School of Professional and Continuing Education. This change elevated its status with relation to its parent organisation, giving it financial autonomy and allowing it more freedom to make decisions for the programmes it offered. The school was reformed into a corporate structure in 1999, allowing HKU to differentiate the school's activities from public funding and to provide for more flexible and appropriate rules and procedures that are not available as a publicly-funded institution.

Locations
As of 2023, HKU SPACE operates out of many small locations spread across Hong Kong:

Subsidiaries
HKU SPACE also oversees a number of subsidiary educational organisations:


 * HKU SPACE Community College (established in 2000)
 * HKU SPACE International College (established in 2003)
 * HKU SPACE Po Leung Kuk Stanley Ho Community College (established in 2006)
 * College of Business and Finance
 * College of Humanities and Law
 * College of Life Sciences and Technology
 * Centre for Logistics and Transport

International partners
HKU SPACE has strategic partnership with universities globally that offer a number of part time and full time courses at HKU SPACE campuses across Hong Kong.

Alumni structure and organisations
Established in 2004, the HKU SPACE Alumni aims to maintain an active relation between the school and the alumni. The HKU Professional Real Estate Agencies Alumni and Hong Kong Students & Alumni Association of The Tsinghua University School of Law are limited companies under the companies ordinance. Nine more organisations were established as societies under the societies ordinance:


 * HKU SPACE Public Relations and Corporate Communication Alumni Chapter
 * HKU SPACE Society of Putonghua Students
 * HKU SPACE Mediation Practice Alumni Society
 * HKU SPACE Wine Alumni Association
 * Gem & Jewellery Alumni Association
 * HKU SPACE Art Collecting Alumni Association
 * HKU SPACE Fintech Alumni Association
 * HKU SPACE Financial Planning Alumni Society
 * HKU SPACE Docent Alumni Society

The alumni membership systems also differs from other colleges including the HKU. It consist of the "Lifelong Learner Card" which is automatically obtained by graduating from HKU SPACE and the "Life Membership Card" which can only be obtained after paying the membership fee to be a "Life Member". The only differences between the life membership and ordinary membership is the privileges which provide discounts of companies in different field, which can only be access by the life member. However, most of the privileges were shared between the 2 different types of member.