Bourse CSC 2027 : conditions, échéances, bourse d’entretien et candidature

What the CSC scholarship 2027 covers

The CSC scholarship — formally the Chinese Government Scholarship, administered by the China Scholarship Council — is a full award. For the 2027 intake it covers, as in every recent round: the full tuition fee of the admitting programme, free or heavily subsidised on-campus accommodation, comprehensive medical insurance under the national student scheme, and a monthly living allowance paid throughout the degree.

The stipend levels have been stable for several cycles and are expected to continue unchanged into 2027: CNY 2,500 per month for bachelor’s students, CNY 3,000 for master’s students and CNY 3,500 for doctoral students. In a city like Wuhan, Chengdu or Changchun the stipend alone covers a comfortable student month; in Beijing or Shanghai it covers essentials, with part of the difference made up by subsidised canteen meals and dormitory rent.

Partial CSC-linked awards also exist — tuition plus accommodation without the stipend — and some universities layer their own top-ups on top of a CSC award. Read the award letter carefully when results are released: what "full" means is defined line by line, not by the word on the envelope.

Who can apply: CSC scholarship 2027 eligibility

Eligibility for the CSC scholarship 2027 round follows the same rules as recent years. You must be a citizen of a country other than the People’s Republic of China, in good physical and mental health, and meet the age limits: under 25 for a bachelor’s programme, under 35 for a master’s, under 40 for a doctorate, under 45 for general scholar programmes and under 50 for senior scholar programmes.

Academic prerequisites match the level you are applying for: a high-school diploma for undergraduate study, a bachelor’s degree for a master’s and a master’s degree for a doctorate. Chinese-taught programmes generally require HSK 3 to enter the language-preparation year and HSK 4 for direct graduate admission; English-taught programmes ask for evidence of English proficiency instead, usually a certificate or prior English-medium education.

One eligibility point applicants routinely miss: current CSC holders and current students already in China on other scholarships are usually not eligible to apply for a second overlapping award, and applicants who have been expelled from a Chinese institution are disqualified. Check your own status against the current instructions before investing two months in an application.

The CSC scholarship 2027 timeline, month by month

The 2027 round has not been formally announced at the time of writing, so treat this timeline as the published 2026 cycle carried forward — which is exactly what CSC has done for several consecutive years.

September to December 2026: shortlist two or three designated universities, read their international admission pages, and contact prospective supervisors if you are applying for a research degree. This is also when universities publish their own Type B deadlines, which can close as early as January or February.

Around 5 November 2026: the CGSIS application system (studyinchina.csc.edu.cn) is expected to open for the 2027 intake. December 2026 and January 2027: CSCA test sessions for undergraduate applicants — the 2026 round used late December and late January sittings, and the 2027 dates are published on csca.cn. Early to late February 2027: Type A embassy deadlines, which have historically fallen between 1 February and 22 February and vary by country. Spring 2027: university and CSC review. June to July 2027: results and admission documents. September 2027: enrolment.

Type A, Type B and Type C: choosing your CSC route

The CSC scholarship 2027 round runs on the same three routes as every recent year. Type A is the embassy route: you apply through the Chinese embassy or the designated agency in your country, which reviews and forwards candidates to CSC. Type A allows one application per year.

Type B is the university route: you apply directly to a designated Chinese university, which nominates successful candidates to CSC. You can apply to several Type B universities in the same cycle, and this is the single most effective way to raise your odds — the applicants who succeed almost always run multiple university applications in parallel.

Type C covers institutional agreements between your home university (or employer) and a Chinese institution, and matters only if such an agreement exists. For everyone else, the realistic strategy is one Type A application plus two or three Type B applications, submitted with the same document set.

How to apply for the CSC scholarship 2027, step by step

Step 1 — shortlist and verify. Pick 2–3 designated universities from the list on campuschina.org, confirm your target programme is open to international students, and note each university’s own application deadline and fee.

Step 2 — sit the CSCA if you are applying for a bachelor’s degree. Register at csca.cn, choose the subject tests your major requires (mathematics is standard; science and engineering majors usually add physics or chemistry), and download the score report as soon as it is issued.

Step 3 — apply to the universities and secure a pre-admission document. Since 2020, every CSC application must include a pre-admission notice, an invitation letter from a school, or an acceptance letter from a supervisor. Without one, the application is rejected automatically — which is why the CSC process really starts months before the portal opens.

Step 4 — submit on CGSIS. Register at studyinchina.csc.edu.cn, select the correct programme category and agency number for your country (Type A) or university (Type B), upload the document set, and check the form for consistency with your university applications before submitting.

Step 5 — submit before your embassy’s deadline and track both channels. Embassy deadlines cluster in February, but a few countries close earlier; the deadline printed by your national agency is the one that binds.

Documents checklist for the CSC scholarship 2027

The document set is standard across routes and has been stable for years. Prepare notarised translations early — authentication alone takes six to ten weeks in most countries.

• CSC application form generated by the CGSIS system
• Highest diploma (notarised) — or a certificate of expected graduation
• Full academic transcripts, with certified translations
• Study plan or research proposal (master’s and doctoral applicants)
• Two recommendation letters for graduate applicants
• Foreigner Physical Examination Form, completed within the validity window
• Police clearance certificate (non-criminal record)
• Passport copy valid well beyond September 2027
• CSCA score report for undergraduate applicants
• Pre-admission notice, invitation or supervisor acceptance letter
• Language evidence: HSK for Chinese-taught tracks, English certificate for English-taught tracks

What the stipend actually pays for

A useful way to judge the CSC scholarship 2027 offer is to set the stipend against the published cost-of-living ranges on this site. University dormitory rooms for international students commonly run CNY 750–1,600 per month; canteen meals cost CNY 10–20; a metro ride starts around CNY 3; and a realistic all-in monthly budget sits between CNY 2,100 and 4,500 depending on the city.

That means the bachelor stipend of CNY 2,500 covers dormitory and canteen life in second-tier cities with room to spare, and covers essentials in Beijing or Shanghai. The scholarship removes tuition and rent — the two largest costs — so even in the most expensive cities an award holder finishes a degree without family support in most cases.

Why CSC scholarship applications get rejected

Across published applicant accounts, the same failure patterns recur. The most common is missing or late pre-admission: an otherwise strong file with no university letter behind it is dead on arrival. The second is applying to a programme that is not actually open to scholarship students, or missing the university’s own earlier deadline while preparing for the CSC one.

The third is a generic study plan. Committees read hundreds of them; the ones that advance name specific departments, supervisors, courses and research groups, and connect the applicant’s background to a concrete plan in China. The fourth is document problems — unnotarised translations, an expired physical examination form, a passport too close to expiry. None of these are competence failures; all of them are avoidable with a checklist started in September.

Verify before you apply

Every date and figure on this page reflects the most recently published cycle and reasonable expectation for 2027. The binding versions are the ones CSC publishes: check campuschina.org for programme and university lists, studyinchina.csc.edu.cn for the application window, csca.cn for CSCA dates, and your national embassy’s notice for the Type A deadline. Where this page and an official notice disagree, the official notice wins.