|
China’s schools have virtually any program imaginable. Business, economics, engineering and medicine are the most popular among international students, but anything from literature and history to law and politics are available.
Chinese upper education is divided into three major parts: Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctorate degree students. Bachelor’s degree students study for 4 – 5 years, Master’s degree students study for 2 – 3 years and doctorate students study for 3 – 4 years.
Short-term or non-degree study students can come to study topics including Chinese cooking, Chinese traditional medicine, architecture, painting, calligraphy and more.
Below is a list of different types of programs and their requirements:
Chinese Language Proficiency Test (HSK)
| Type of student |
Application and admission requirements |
Required Chinese language level (each school has individual requirements) |
Study time |
| Undergraduate or associates degree student |
Possession of a Chinese high school diploma or the equivalent and a passing grade on China’s college entrance examination. (Test subjects are decided by each individual school. In addition to Chinese proficiency; for example, humanities students will usually be tested in mathematics, science and engineering students will be tested in chemistry and biology. Some universities have special review classes before testing to help students prepare.) |
HSK level 4-6 (for non-English language courses) |
Undergraduate student: 4 - 5 years, associates degree students: 2 - 3 years |
| Master's degree student |
Possession a Bachelor's degree, at least two recommendations from professors, and a passing grade on college entrance examination; students that received a Bachelor's degree from a Chinese institution in this year may be allowed to skip the entrance exam. |
HSK level 5-8 (for non-English language courses) |
2 - 3 years |
| Doctorate degree student |
Possession of a Master's degree, at least two recommendations from professors, and a passing grade on China's college entrance examination. |
HSK level 5-8 (for non-English language courses) |
3 years |
| Language student |
Possession of the equivalent of a Chinese high school diploma. |
No requirements |
1 - 2 years |
| Non-degree Student |
Second year undergraduate student or above. |
No requirements |
1 - 2 years |
| Advanced Non-degree Student |
Possession of a Master's degree or currently working towards obtaining a Doctorate degree. |
No requirements |
Up to one year |
| Researcher |
Associate professor, professor or full professor |
No requirements |
Up to one year |
| Short-term student |
Possession of a Chinese high school diploma or the equivalent and a passing grade on China’s college entrance examination. (Test subjects are decided by each individual school). |
No requirements |
4 - 20 weeks |
In general, students must be at least 18 years old and in good health. Applicants for the Spring semester should apply between September 15 and February 15, while Fall semester applicants should apply between February 15 and May 15. Note that each individual school may have a particular application deadline.
Students wishing to enrol in a program in which Chinese is the medium of instruction must obtain a minimum score on the HSK test. This is an internationally-recognized test of Chinese language ability for non-Chinese. It generally takes 1 – 2 years of intensive study for an international student to learn enough Chinese to study in a program that uses Chinese in the classroom. The exact amount of time required depends on the students’ study habits and the level of Chinese he needs to obtain for his or her particular program.
Another important aspect of your course of study is what kind of requirements your chosen program has. While some universities offer English-language instruction for various programs, the majority of Chinese institutions use Chinese in the classroom.
Once you understand what kind of what type of degree you’ll be pursuing (if any), it’s time to decide what subject you’ll study. Different majors have different tuition fees so it is important to plan this into your budget.
Below is a list of majors and their typical tuition fees:
| Program type |
Type of student |
Standard price (per academic year) |
| Humanities, business, economics, political science |
Undergraduate student, technical student, Chinese language student, normal exchange student |
14,000 - 26,000 RMB |
| Master's degree student, advanced exchange student |
18,000 - 30,000 RMB |
| Doctorate degree student |
22,000 - 34,000 RMB |
| Short-term student (one month) |
3000 - 4800 RMB (one month) |
| Science, technology and agriculture |
Undergraduate student, technical student, Chinese language student, normal exchange student |
15,400 RMB - 33,800 RMB |
| Master's degree student, advanced exchange student |
19,800 RMB - 39,000 RMB |
| Doctorate degree student |
24,200 RMB - 44,200 RMB |
| Short-term student (one month) |
3300 RMB - 6240 RMB |
| Medicine, physical education, the arts |
Undergraduate student, technical student, Chinese language student, normal exchange student |
21,000 RMB - 52,000 RMB |
| Master's degree student, advanced exchange student |
27,000 RMB - 60,000 RMB |
| Doctorate degree student |
33,000 RMB - 68,000 RMB |
| Short-term student (one month) |
4500 RMB - 9600 RMB |
Many students are on a tight budget and need to carefully plan how much money they’ll spend while studying. Luckily China is a very inexpensive place to live and rent, food and daily expenses are all affordable.
Below is an estimation of basic living costs at a Chinese university:
| Registration fee |
400 - 800 RMB |
| Accommodation |
Basic accommodation is 12 - 32 RMB per day (two people per room, public restroom facilities). Other types of two-person accommodation usually won't exceed 80 RMB per day. |
| Classroom materials |
For humanities students, classroom materials cost 240 - 400 RMB. Other majors are slightly more expensive. |
| Food |
Foreign student cafeterias cost 350 - 500 RMB per month. Chinese student cafeterias cost about 300 RMB per month. |
| Other fees |
Internet fees vary from school to school. In addition, other costs, such as travel and nightlife, depend on a student's personal preferences and budget. |
|
