University of Hong Kong
The origins of the University of Hong Kong can be traced back to the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese founded in 1887 (renamed the Hong Kong College of Medicine in 1907). The college became HKU's medical school in 1911.
Collegiate university
The Chinese University of Hong Kong has 9 colleges which provide pastoral support and non-formal learning opportunities to supplement the formal teaching from the central administration of the university. Any full-time undergraduate at the university may apply for affiliation to a college. The three original colleges were founded as separate institutions which federated to found the university in 1963, and over the first two and a half decades teaching departments were merged and the university had become more centralised.