Masters are not funded. They are a profit center for the colleges. Any masters program at those Universities, will be entirely on your dime, which is another really good reason for your DS to go to HK instead of VT for his UG years.
PhD’s generally are funded, with a low paying stipend[ hence the term “poor graduate student”]
but they last from 5-7 years and are suitable only for those students committed to academia or research. .