How to Choose a Chinese University as an International Student

To choose a Chinese university when you plan to study in China, you should follow six steps: decide on the teaching language, match the programme to your goals, compare cities, check the entry requirements against your own profile, weigh the total cost and scholarships, and look at the support services. This guide has explained how international students can choose a Chinese university step by step, with official sources for each check.

Step 1: Decide on the teaching language first

Chinese universities have offered bachelor's programmes in two main forms: Chinese-taught and English-taught. This choice has shaped almost everything else when you choose a Chinese university.

• Chinese-taught programmes have usually required HSK Level 4 or above, or one year of language preparation. The HSK has been organised through the official test website, chinesetest.cn.
• English-taught programmes have admitted students without Chinese at the start, although some universities have asked for IELTS or TOEFL scores.

If you have not studied Chinese before, an English-taught programme has often been the faster route. If you already speak some Chinese, or you want to build strong language skills during your degree, a Chinese-taught programme has opened more choices and often lower tuition fees.

Step 2: Match the programme to your goals

A university's overall ranking has mattered less than the quality of the specific programme. Before you choose a Chinese university, you should check:

• Whether the programme has been open to international students and has had a clear curriculum
• For clinical medicine (MBBS) programmes, whether the university has been authorised to enrol international students and whether the degree has been recognised for medical licensing in your home country
• Whether the degree has been taught fully in English, or partly in Chinese after the first years

You should also think about your long-term plan. Students who have wanted to work in China after graduation have benefited from stronger Chinese language training, while students who have planned to return home have often looked at how the degree has been recognised there.

Step 3: Choose the city, not only the university

China has large differences in cost and lifestyle between cities. A monthly budget of RMB 2,000 may have been comfortable in some cities and tight in Beijing or Shanghai.

When you have compared cities, you should look at:

• Living costs: accommodation, food and transport
• Climate: winters in northern China and summers in the south have felt very different
• Community: some cities have larger international student communities and halal food options, which have mattered to students from Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa
• Opportunities: bigger cities have usually offered more internships and part-time options

Step 4: Check the entry requirements against your own profile

Every programme has had its own entry line. Before you apply, you should compare your high school results, your language certificates and, since the 2026/2027 cycle, your CSCA results with the requirements of each target programme.

A practical way to choose a Chinese university shortlist has mixed three types of universities:

• One ambitious choice: a stronger university where your results are near the entry line
• Two matched choices: universities where your profile fits the requirements well
• One safe choice: a university where your results have clearly exceeded the requirements

You can check which CSCA subjects each university has required on the official CSCA website, csca.cn, and on the admission page of the university. For example, Huazhong University of Science and Technology has published its international student admission information on iso.hust.edu.cn.

Step 5: Compare the total cost and the scholarships

Tuition fees for international students have ranged widely, from around RMB 18,000 to more than RMB 40,000 per year for many English-taught bachelor's programmes, with medicine usually at the higher end. When you have compared offers, you should add the city's living costs to the tuition.

You should also check scholarships early. According to CampusChina, the official "Study in China" portal of the China Scholarship Council, the Chinese Government Scholarship, provincial scholarships and university scholarships have had different deadlines, and some have closed months before the application season has ended. According to the scholarship rules, undergraduate applicants have generally needed a high school diploma and have needed to be under the age of 25 when they apply.

Step 6: Check the support services

Daily life has depended a lot on services that are easy to overlook. Before you choose a Chinese university, you should check whether it has offered:

• On-campus dormitories for international students
• An international student office with English-speaking staff
• Airport pick-up and registration support for new students
• Halal canteens or prayer facilities, if these matter to you

A simple way to make the final decision

After the six steps, most students have ended up with a shortlist of three to five universities. From there, you should compare the offers side by side: language, programme, city, cost, scholarships and support. The right choice has rarely been the highest-ranked university. It has been the Chinese university where the programme, the cost and your own plan to study in China have matched best.

Official sources

• CampusChina – the official "Study in China" portal (China Scholarship Council)
• CSCA official website (subjects and schedule)
• chinesetest.cn – official HSK registration (Chinese Testing International)
• HUST international student admission (example of a university's official admission page)

The content of this article has been last updated in October 2026. Entry requirements, tuition fees and scholarship rules have differed between institutions and have changed over time, so please confirm the current details on the official sources above.

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About SICAS

SICAS (Study In China Admission System) is a platform for international students who are interested in studying in China. It provides information on Chinese universities, degree programmes, scholarships and admission requirements, helping students explore study opportunities across China.