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ChinaScience

Is China about to raise fees for international university students?

  • Study reveals the true cost of educating foreign students far outweighs the fee and suggests it is time for a change
  • Looming escalation in costs may cast a shadow over aspirants vying for a spot in world’s third-largest education destination

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China is the third largest destination for international students, after the US and Britain. Photo: Xinhua
Stephen Chenin Beijing
A team of senior Chinese education experts has urged the government to massively increase university tuition fees for international students so that China can compete with the US and Britain to attract better students and offer better services.
The study was led by Beijing Institute of Technology professor Liu Jin, who heads a major research programme funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China to evaluate the competitiveness of the country’s international education sector under the Belt and Road Initiative.

A standard fee of 20,000 yuan (US$2,800) for international students has applied across the board at China’s universities – which include some of the world’s most prestigious schools, such as Tsinghua, Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences – since 1998.

But Liu and his team said it was time for a change and the tuition fee could be raised to around 100,000 yuan (US$14,300) – five times the existing level.

The “reasonable” increase would allow Chinese universities to provide better educational services and compete with other top institutions around the world to attract higher-quality international students, they said.

According to the College Board in the US, the average tuition fee for international students at American public four-year universities was US$26,820 per year in 2020-2021. British fees vary between institutions and study programmes, but can range from £10,000 to £38,000 per year (US$12,400 to US$47,300).

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