Fully Residential and Communal Dining
Rationale
The tradition of full residence and communal dining goes back to the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. You will make friends with students from different backgrounds and in different disciplines, and also with your teachers. With students living in the hostel and dining together frequently, an intimate atmosphere and close community are established.
Participating in College dining is an important element of college life, and it contributes to the building of a close community. It is part-and-parcel of Full Residence. Administratively, it is regarded as a part of College General Education.
Hostel Residence
As a student of CW Chu College (whether local or non-local), you will be offered hostel residence for your undergraduate studies. In return, you will be obliged to take up residence and take part in communal dining in order to be part of the College community of shared learning and growth.
The duration of hostel entitlement for a CWC student is determined by the undergraduate programme in which the student is enrolled (categories 1–6), or by the number of times the student is admitted to CUHK or another UGC-institution (category 7).
Preamble:
In all stipulations of “Hostel Entitlement”, the term “one year” means two academic terms, excluding summer. Entitlement provision is only applied to students who are registered for courses in the relevant year at CUHK or partner institutions in joint/ dual programmes or on outbound exchanges. Cases beyond the entitlement so calculated will be handled at the College’s discretion.
| Category | Undergraduate Programmes Offered by CUHK | Hostel Entitlement at CWC Counted from the First Term of Admission to CWC* |
| 1 | Student taking an undergraduate programme with a normative study period of 4 years | 4 years of hostel residence (i.e. 8 academic terms)
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| 2 | Student admitted via Advanced Standing (AS) with approval of a one-year reduction of the normative study period | 3 years of hostel residence (i.e. 6 academic terms) |
| 3 | Student admitted via Senior Year stream with a normative study period of 2 years | 2 years of hostel residence (i.e. 4 academic terms)
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| 4 | Medical student with a normative study period of 6 years and other students in programmes with normative periods more than 4 years | 4 years of hostel residence (i.e. 8 academic terms)
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| 5 | Medical student admitted from the Graduate Entry Track (GET) with a normative study period of 4 years | Generally, NO hostel residence is provided to GET students due to their packed study schedule and clinical practice arrangement. However, the College will review the allocation of hotel places for all eligible students when handling the admission exercise for new students, and consider offering hostel accommodation for GET students admitted to CWC if there are enough spare hostel places in a particular academic year.
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| 6 | Student in double major programme/ dual degree programme/ special programme that requires him/ her to attend CUHK, CUHK (Shenzhen) and/ or partner universities in Mainland China or abroad during different terms or years
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Hostel residence will be provided to the student for the term(s) that he/ she is having study at CUHK, with a maximum of 8 academic terms. |
| 7 | A student who has previously been enrolled in CUHK or another UGC-institution, e.g., re-JUPAS | The actual year of hostel entitlement will be reduced by the notional period (which equals 4 years if a degree is completed) the student has spent in the previous enrolment in CUHK or another UGC-institution. The notional period is decided by the College’s discretion from time to time, which may depend on the structure of the normative study programme.
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* As hostel accommodation and the meal plan are bundled, CWC students entitled to hostel lodging are required to participate in communal dining during their stay at CWC.
Communal Dining and Activities
Upon assignment to the College, students are automatically enrolled onto a meal plan, which includes communal dinners (CD), and High Table Dinners (HTD). CD will be arranged three times a week on every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during term time, and HTD twice per term. Guest speakers or fellow students will be invited to share their experiences on different topics during/ after dinners occasionally. There will be no regular College Assemblies.
In 2025–26, attendance at CD and HTD will NOT be counted for the non-credit bearing College General Education courses: GECW1000/ 2000/ 3000/ 4000. Since hostel accommodation and College Dining are bundled, there is no reduction or refund of both hostel fee and meal charge. Please refer to the pages on Assessment Methods for GECW1000/ 2000/ 3000/ 4000 and Dining Arrangements for details.
*Students who are not in residence or who are residing beyond four years may participate in some college dinners on a voluntary basis subject to the approval of the College with separate payments.
Detailed Arrangements for Hostel Residence
CW Chu College is committed to offering hostel residence for every student (whether local or non-local) irrespective of his/her accommodation need or home distance from the University, according to the specifications below.
- The duration of a student’s hostel entitlement at CWC is determined by the undergraduate programme he/ she is enrolled in, or by the number of times the student is admitted to CUHK or another UGC-institution. See details under the ‘Hostel Residence’ section above.
- Hostel accommodation during summer terms is treated separately.
- Any gap period of residence due to exceptions is also counted towards the four-year offer. Exceptions include student participation in outbound exchange/ internship programmes, disciplinary or public health issues, or the closure of the hostel as a result of epidemic, disaster, safety concern, or social unrest.
- Each student should pay the full meal charge for communal dinners and hostel fee of the term.
Hostel Fees and Related Financial Support
The College hostel is a self-financing operation; thus the hostel fee will reflect the actual cost of running the hostel, including a contribution to a reserve for maintenance. The hostel fee per student for academic year 2025–26 is as follows:
A basic usage level (140 kWh per room*) is provided within the hostel fee. Usage above this level (especially for air-conditioning) will be separately charged to each room based on individual metering on a monthly basis.
*4.65 kWh per room per day ~ 140 kWh per room x 12 months / 365 days
All CWC students with genuine financial needs may apply for Bursary to offset part of the hostel fee together with the meal fee.
Additional Hostel Accommodation
When there are extra hostel places in the College, the College may accept application for hostel accommodation in addition to the above Fully Residential offer. Students looking for such accommodation are required to submit a special application to the Student Affairs Committee in advance for approval. Besides the concern of need, the student’s previous engagement in and contribution to College life are essential consideration. Some valid cases are listed below as examples.
- In the event of approved leave or suspension, the College may provide residence beyond the fourth year, provided that the normative period of the student concerned has also been extended by the University.
- Students in programmes with normative periods of more than four years may need continuing residence beyond the fourth year. This normally does not apply to students in the MBChB programme, who will usually have hostels provided in the Prince of Wales Hospital in the last two years of clinical studies.
- For students beyond their normative periods, residence will rarely be provided.
Hostel places in the College during term time are allocated based on the guidelines approved by the Assembly of Fellows. For details, please refer to the pdf file “Guidelines on the Allocation of Hostel Places”.
Dining Fee
The cost of dining will be based on what the caterer charges. The dining fees for the academic year 2025–26 are as follows:
| Dining Fee Per Student | Number of Meals Provided |
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Term 1: $2,164
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34 communal dinners and 2 High Table Dinners
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Team 2: $2,444
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39 communal dinners and 2 High Table Dinners
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Since hostel accommodation and College Dining are bundled, there is no reduction or refund of both hostel fee and meal charge.
College Office
G/F, CW Chu College
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR
