Associate degree ≠ Diploma !!!

This course is equivalent to the first two years of a four-year university program. After graduation, students can choose to continue their studies at university for an additional two years to obtain a bachelor's degree. In simple terms, it is a 2+2 pathway to a bachelor's degree.

In 2000, the associate degree program was introduced in Hong Kong, but due to mainland students' limited understanding of the program, they simply regarded it as equivalent to a diploma program at the level of mainland vocational colleges, believing that it takes two years to graduate.

The Hong Kong associate degree is not equivalent to the "diploma" in mainland China. An associate degree is not a vocational diploma in Hong Kong, as there is no such concept in Hong Kong education. The curriculum and quality of Hong Kong's associate degree programs are relatively high.

After graduating with an associate degree, students who continue to undergraduate studies receive a degree that is completely indistinguishable from the degree certificate obtained by directly entering university with a score above the first-tier line in the college entrance examination. It is not the same as the "top-up degree" in mainland China.