Shue Yan was founded in 1971 by Dr. Henry H.L. Hu and Dr. Chung Chi Yung in response to their serious concern over the acute shortage of tertiary places for local secondary school leavers aspiring for university education. Shue Yan underwent a series of institutional reviews and developed ten four-year honours degree programmes during 1997-2006. On the basis of its track record of offering high quality degree programmes, the title of Shue Yan University (HKSYU) was granted by the Chief Executive in Council on 19 December 2006, and HKSYU became the first private university in Hong Kong.