Expenses for Studying in China

Compared to America, UK and other western countries, the expense for studying in China is relatively reasonable. The Chinese Ministry of Education attaches a tight regulation on Chinese universities’ tuition to make it affordable for international students. Various scholarship plans provided by government and schools also make it best-valued to study in the economic vibrant and cultural glamorous China. This passage will offer you a clear look on the how much does it cost to study in China.

Expenses List for International Students

1. Application Expenses

There are several ways you can choose to make the payment. You can check ways of payment and money matters for more details. Also see cost of applying

2. Pre-departure Expenses

Medical examination fee: Chinese government requires international students who wish to study in China for more than 6 months to do a medical examination. You are asked to present your medical examination record when applying a Chinese student visa. Consult your local hospital to know the exact examination fee. In China, it usually costs around 100 USD to do the medical examination in an official hospital. Do physical examination and get your Physical Examination Record (FOREIGNER-PHYSICAL-EXAMINATION-FORM.pdf) will tell you more about Medical examination.

Visa fee:Differ from country to country; you can consult the nearest Chinese embassy for details.

Air ticket: Different airlines and countries have different prices, so please contact the local tickets office for details.

3. University Expenses

In order to register in your school, you are required to pay the following fees including tuition fee, accommodation fee, insurance fee and medical examination fee (if you are required to do it in a local hospital). The chart below shows the tuitions of Chinese universities’.

The General Tuition Fees (each field per year)

SICAS Reminder:

Medical field: MBBS/MD (medicine), Pharmaceutical, BDS (Dental of Stomatology), TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), Nursing etc
Engineering field: B.Sc., B.E., M.Sc., and M.E. of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Mining, Telecommunication, Computer software, Civil, Petroleum, Fishery etc.
Business &Management field: BBA(Bachelor of Business and Administration),MBA(Master of Business and Administration) (business management),BIT(Bachelor of International Trade),MIT(Master of International Trade),MIR(Master of International Relationship),MIE(Master of International Economics)etc.
Accommodation fee: 200-300 USD a person/ per month (depending on universities and types of rooms.)
Insurance fee: about 100 USD a year (Some universities require international students to buy themselves a specific insurance for safety consideration.)
Medical examination in China: 400CNY -800CNY depending on different cities.
Residence permit: 400CNY-1000CNY depending on how long will you stay in China. How to get a resident permit?

Living Expenses

The cost of living is relatively low in China. Daily commodities are all at very reasonable price and you can live at a rather comfortable life in China with smaller budget. Generally speaking, living in the most modernized cities like Beijing and Shanghai can cost 500 USD a month while the expenses of living can be lower than 300 USD in some smaller cities such as Qingdao, Dalian, and Jinan etc. The table below generally shows prices of some items in Chinese market.