Standards
CSC funding standards: tuition by discipline band, housing and stipend
CSC is not one flat package. Tuition is banded into three discipline groups and the stipend into three study levels, so two doctoral students can differ by CNY 12,000 a year and two undergraduates in the same subject differ by CNY 1,000 a month in cash.
The programme profiles below are currently written in English. Interface labels are translated.
What it covers
- Tuition has three bands: I (humanities, social science, management), II (science, engineering, agriculture), III (fine arts, medicine)
- Accommodation is CNY 8,400 a year for bachelor and master, 12,000 for doctoral — a free twin room or the equivalent allowance
- Stipend is CNY 2,500 / 3,000 / 3,500 a month by level, paid for twelve months
- Comprehensive medical insurance is a flat CNY 800 a year
Amounts and standards
| Bachelor (band I → III) | CNY 59,200 → 66,200 a year |
|---|---|
| Master (band I → III) | CNY 70,200 → 79,200 a year |
| Doctoral (band I → III) | CNY 87,800 → 99,800 a year |
| Partial award | One or several components only — tuition + housing + insurance lands around CNY 30,000–50,000 a year |
Who is eligible
- Bachelor programmes are taught in Chinese, preceded by a one-year preparatory year of Chinese and foundation subjects with a pass requirement
- Exemption from the preparatory year: secondary education completed in Chinese with proof, or an HSK score meeting the university’s entry requirement (valid two years)
- Chinese-taught postgraduates below the required level do one year of Chinese (science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, economics, management, law, arts) or up to two (literature, history, philosophy, traditional medicine)
- English-taught programmes, or applicants already meeting the language requirement, start the degree directly
How to apply
- 1
Identify your tuition band
Humanities, social science and management are band I; science, engineering and agriculture band II; fine arts and medicine band III. Interdisciplinary cases follow the host university.
- 2
Separate the headline value from the cash
The annual total includes tuition and housing. What reaches your bank account is the stipend: CNY 30,000, 36,000 or 42,000 a year.
- 3
Plan around the preparatory year
It counts inside the funding period and is compulsory for most bachelor scholars unless exempted.
- 4
Calibrate against the city
CNY 3,000 a month is tight in Beijing or Shanghai and comfortable in a second-tier city; close the gap with a university top-up, a research assistantship or part-time work.
Deadline and timing
Published with the annual CSC admissions circular, usually November–December for the following academic year, and stable for years at a time.
The ten preparatory-year universities are Tianjin, Nanjing Normal, Shandong, Central China Normal, Tongji, Beijing Language and Culture, Northeast Normal, Beijing International Studies, Capital Normal and UIBE.
CSC funding standards
The annual standard, in CNY, by discipline band and study level — the table the CSC circular publishes.
| Level | Band | Tuition | Housing | Stipend | Insurance | Annual total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor's | I | 20,000 | 8,400 | 30,000 | 800 | 59,200 |
| Bachelor's | II | 23,000 | 8,400 | 30,000 | 800 | 62,200 |
| Bachelor's | III | 27,000 | 8,400 | 30,000 | 800 | 66,200 |
| Master's | I | 25,000 | 8,400 | 36,000 | 800 | 70,200 |
| Master's | II | 29,000 | 8,400 | 36,000 | 800 | 74,200 |
| Master's | III | 34,000 | 8,400 | 36,000 | 800 | 79,200 |
| Doctoral | I | 33,000 | 12,000 | 42,000 | 800 | 87,800 |
| Doctoral | II | 38,000 | 12,000 | 42,000 | 800 | 92,800 |
| Doctoral | III | 45,000 | 12,000 | 42,000 | 800 | 99,800 |
Discipline bands
| Band I | Philosophy, economics, law, education, humanities (excluding fine arts), history, management |
|---|---|
| Band II | Sciences, engineering, agriculture |
| Band III | Fine arts and literature-arts, medicine |
Study, preparatory year and total funding period
| Level | Degree | Preparatory | Funded period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | 4–5 years | 1–2 years | 4–7 years |
| Master's | 2–3 years | 1–2 years | 2–5 years |
| Doctoral | 3–4 years | 1–2 years | 3–6 years |
| General scholar | up to 1 year | up to 1 year | up to 2 years |
| Senior scholar | up to 1 year | up to 1 year | up to 2 years |
The ten preparatory-year universities
Tianjin University · Nanjing Normal University · Shandong University · Central China Normal University · Tongji University · Beijing Language and Culture University · Northeast Normal University · Beijing International Studies University · Capital Normal University · University of International Business and Economics
Source: campuschina.org · Last verified 2026-10-19
Related programmes
Chinese Government Scholarship — Bilateral Programme (Type A)
Funded under the education agreements China signs with foreign governments, institutions, universities and international organisations. It carries the largest quota and the widest country coverage, funds every level from bachelor to senior scholar, and is applied for through your own government rather than in China.
Full details → Chinese GovernmentChinese Government Scholarship — University Programme (Type B)
CSC allocates quota directly to selected universities and provincial education departments, and the university selects and nominates its own candidates. Master’s and doctoral only, but you deal with a single institution from start to finish, which makes the odds far easier to read than Type A.
Full details → Language teachingInternational Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship (formerly Confucius Institute Scholarship)
Funds foreign students to learn Chinese, take a BA or MA in teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages, or do short residential courses. Six categories carry six different HSK thresholds, from HSK 2 (120) to HSK 5 (180) — picking the wrong category is the single most common reason applications fail.
Full details →