text: The official letter with the referee's signature or the completed recommendation form with the referee's true signature (i.e. original copy).
  Local students are eligible for applying the Non-means Tested Loan Scheme. The Programme is also eligible for the support of the Continuing Education Fund (CEF) for Hong Kong students.
  The course offering depends on both the demand of students and the resource constraints of the Department. In principle, courses that are elected by less than 10 students may not be offered.
  Application on credit exemption should be submitted to the Programme Director 6 weeks before class commences. No exemptions will be granted on elective courses. All applications will be assessed by the Programme Director in case by case basis.
  
  Mortgage interest rates fell to a new all-time low this past week, according to mortgage finance company Freddie Mac, but the Mortgage Bankers Association reported a decrease in demand for mortgage applications at the same time.
  The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell to 3.31 percent, excluding points, the second week in a row of record-breaking lows. Last week the new record low was 3.34 percent, and one year ago the average rate was 3.98 percent.
  The 15-year fixed rate mortgage also found a new low for the second straight week. It is now down to 2.63 percent from 2.65 percent last week and 3.30 percent from the previous year.
  “Fixed mortgage rates continued to ease somewhat this week to record lows and should help the ongoing housing recovery,” said Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft in a press release. “Already, new construction on homes was up 3.6 percent in October to the strongest pace since July 2008. In November, homebuilder confidence rose for the sixth straight month to its highest reading since June 2006 according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. And existing home sales increased 2.1 percent in October to an annualized pace of 4.79 million, exceeding the market consensus forecast.”
  However, mortgage applications have fallen during six out of the past seven weeks, according to data from the MBA. After a slight increased last week, the MBA’s Market Composite Index, a measure of total loan application volume, fell 2.2 percent this week. Both refinance applications and home purchase loans requests were down 3 percent and were down 6 percent from the year before. The holiday season is notoriously slow in the mortgage world, though, and a spur in activity from the low rates could kick in after New Year’s.