China has become one of the favorite destinations for international students. Besides its economic growth and quality education, Chinese universities have affordable prices compared to other universities. It also stimulates the integration of new cultures. However, international students have to pay much more than just tuition, including outbound and return flights, visas, living expenses, accommodation, and so on. If you add application fees to that equation, it’s possible that studying abroad becomes impossible for them.
Typically, universities impose application fees to cover the cost of reviewing each application. Even if the process is done online, each application and document submitted will be reviewed manually to select the right candidates and ensure that the information provided is true. This means that the university has to pay each specialist who spends hours reviewing applications.
Also, universities apply this fee to ensure that only people who really wish to study there make an application. Otherwise, students would apply to hundreds of universities to increase their chances, and universities would have to manually review millions of applications.
However, application fees in China can go from 90 – 150 USD. An international student who applies to five universities would have to pay around 450 – 750 USD! And that’s without considering any other expenses they must pay during the whole application process.
In case you want to save some money without sacrificing your possibility of getting into a university, here’s a list of Chinese universities that do not charge any application fees.
Universities in China with Free Applications Process
1. South China University of Technology (SCUT)
With more than 60 decades of experience in the educational field, the South China University of Technology (SCUT) is positioned within the top 30 best universities in China, and its engineering school has ranked within the 50 best engineering programs worldwide. It is part of the Chinese plan Double First Class that aims to develop and improve elite universities to transform them into world-class institutions. This university in China also does not have any application fees, which is a good news for international students!
The South China University of Technology is located in Guangzhou, in the Guangdong Province. There, the university has two campuses: the north campus, with 17 schools, and the south campus, with 11 schools. It offers 80 undergraduate programs, 42 disciplines and 193 specialties at the Master’s Degree level, and 25 disciplines and 107 specialties at the Doctorate Degree level.
The application process in SCUT is online. Once you provide your personal info in the online application form, you have to submit a scanned copy of the documents required. Everything must be translated into Chinese or English. Your application will be processed within two weeks, and you’ll receive an email with the Admission Letter in case you were accepted. After that, you’ll receive the JW202 Form and the official admission letter that will allow you to apply for a student visa.
The Admission page of SCUT explains all the steps you must follow, and it has a Fee section. There, you’ll see that application is free. The registration fee listed is paid in the university when you start studying. You can also see an estimated budget of the amount of money you’ll need. It includes the prices of the insurance, tuition, living expenses, campus card, etc. Go to their Admissions page to learn more.
2. Shandong University
With almost 60,000 full-time students, Shandong University is the biggest university in China in terms of the student population. It is the result of merging different quality institutions into one big university, and its origins can be found in the 19th century. It is located in Jinan, in the Shandong province.
It has eight campuses! Six of them are located in Jinan, and the newest one was opened in 2016. As you can imagine, its program offer has something for everyone. There are 104 programs available for undergraduate students, and if you are a graduate international student, there 209 master’s degree programs, and 127 doctorate programs.
And if we talk about research, this university surpasses any other! They have a national engineering laboratory, two national key laboratories, one national research center, six ministry of education key laboratories, three national research institutes, 14 province research centers, and one ministry of health laboratory. They even have three hospitals!
Application is online. You must complete the information asked and submit the scanned documents required, which must be certified and translated to English or Chinese. They also explain the steps you must follow in case you are applying for the Chinese Government Scholarship.
The Application Instructions page also has the list of fees you have to cancel. If you check it, the application is completely free! To learn more, visit the Admission page and download the Application Instructions Guide.
3. Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU)
Having more than a century of experience in the educational and agricultural field, Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) is located in Wuhan, in Hubei province. Although it focuses on agriculture, education is complemented by other programs that include engineering, economics, law, liberal arts, basic sciences, and management.
It is the first agricultural university of China and the second one regarding animal science and veterinary medicine. It has 48 undergraduate programs, 87 master’s degree programs, and 54 doctorate degree programs. It also has two national labs, six national emphatic subjects, and a stunning campus of 495 hectares.
The application process here is different from the rest of the universities. You have to choose the program you want and apply to it. You’ll be accepted by a professor of that program’s college, and then you can continue with the online enrollment application. You can also apply through the Chinese embassy, and they explain the process in case you want to apply for the Chinese Government Scholarship or for the university’s scholarships.
It is specified in the list of fees available on their Admissions page and on the FAQ section that application has no fees, so you don’t have to worry about paying for it. If you’d like to learn more, visit their website.
I hope that this article on Chinese Universities without application fees was helpful. If you are interested in studying abroad, check out the Available Programs for International Students!
