After graduating in 1916, Hung's knowledge of English and German gave him the choice of several jobs in government agencies dealing with foreigners, but a wealthy American wrote from St. Louis offering to pay for his study in the United States. The Fuzhou Methodist Bishop James Bashford recommended Hung enroll at the Ohio Wesleyan University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1917. In 1919, Hung obtained a master's degree from Columbia University, where he studied under James Harvey Robinson, leader of the New History, and in 1920, a degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York.
