New Term Starts!   China now has 15.62 million college students, three million of whom come from poor families. Every year, many millions of students in primary and middle schools dropped school because their parents could not afford the tuition fee any more.   New term has started, joy and tears of needy students and their families, governments' policies and aids from society have once again become hot topic national wide. --Editor

China abolishes tuition fees in all rural schools (by Chinaview.cn, Jan 17, 07)

From the spring semester this year, tuition and miscellaneous fees in rural schools of China's central and eastern regions will also be abolished, according to a government circular.>> Detail

China's university tuition 25 times higher than in 1989 (by Chinaview.cn, Jan 15, 07)

Tuitions to China's universities, which range from 5,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan (1,200 U.S. dollars) a year, are about 25 times higher than they were in 1989, according to the China Youth and Children Research Center (CYCRC).>> Detail

College Girl Studies with Her Paralyzed Father (by China news, 2006-09-26 )

Zhao Qing's mother has passed away and her father is paralyzed. In early September, she was enrolled by Shanxi Jinzhong College. Zhao decided to bring her father to the city and take care of him. Zhao and her father's accommodations are provided by Zhao's elder brother, a migrant worker in Taiyuan. >> Detail

Tuition fees make uni dream a nightmare for some

About 60 per cent of poor graduates say they cannot come up with the first year's tuition, and 16 per cent of them may give up their university dreams to work in cities or farm at home instead. >> Detail 

Needy college students laden with psychological problems

According to a survey, 60 percent of the polled students said they felt "utterly shamed" for being poor, and 22.5 percent of them had very low self-esteem, as they frequently considered themselves "inferior" to others. >> DetailSon in college after poor farmer's suicide

CHEN YI, the 17-year-old son of Chen Xuqing, the Shanxi Province farmer who committed suicide two months ago after being unable to pay for his son's university education, has been admitted to a university. Chen Yi's hopes of going to university were buoyed after people made generous donations. >> Detail

China's central government is launching another round of efforts to curb unreasonable school fees to ensure that students in medium and low-income families have access to tuition.>> Detail

Students offered incentive to "go west"

The loan, up to 24,000 yuan (4,000 U.S. dollars) per student, will be paid by the central government if the graduate promises to work at or under county-level units in western or remote regions for at least three years. >> Detail

Green Channel Helps Students

Universities emphasized that financial aid is just one aspect of the program. Funding also goes towards general training in areas such as computer and social skills as well as financial management. >> DetailChina promises to ensure college entrance for poor freshmen

The "Green Channel" policy, introduced in 2000, will be reinforced to enable poor students to register for college first and pay tuition later with the help of subsidized loans and reduced fees. >> Detail

Education ministry opens hotline for struggling univ students

Parents and students can ring in to learn about the country's financial aid programs targeted at college freshmen from low-income families, and report universities which fail to implement these programs. >> Detail

Yunnan starts project to benefit poor students

More than 1,000 poor students from ethnic minority groups in Southwest China's Yunnan Province will benefit from an aid project launched this week in the provincial capital of Kunming. Starting from this year, each student will receive a yearly subsidy of 800 yuan (US$100) to cover living expenses until they finish their nine years of compulsory education. >> Detail

The programme Project Hope College Dream has a dedicated website where donors can choose from a list of poor but intelligent high school graduates and support them in their first year of college. >> Detail

Shaanxi: universities ordered to provide cheap meals

All the universities in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have been ordered to slash the cost of food to help poorer students. Each dish will cost no more than 1 yuan (12.5 U.S. cents) and soups are free. A meal consisting of two steamed buns, one portion of bean curd and a soup will cost a student less than 20 U.S. cents. >> Detail

Citigroup donates 1 mln yuan to help poor children return to school

Citigroup announced on Thursday (Sep 14) a donation of 1,168,000 yuan (147,000 U.S. dollars) to help children from three counties of China's southwestern Guizhou Province continue their education. >> Detail

Migrant kids caught in dilemma on eve of new semester

In July, the Haidian District Education Commission issued a circular clamping down on 37 private schools for migrant children in the district and assigned the 15,000 affected students to nearby public schools. Most of the migrant schools, which collect cheap fees and suit the needs of low-income migrant families in the city, were found to have safety problems. >> Detail

A third of households in W China cannot afford middle school fees (Sep 28, by Chinaview.cn)

More than a third of the households in China's poor western region can't afford tuition fees for their children's junior high school education, according to a report on the region's economic and social development released on Wednesday (Sep 27). >> Detail

A special State grant of 800 million yuan (US$99 million) will be available every year for poor students at secondary vocational schools nationwide starting from September. >> Detail

500m USD for poor secondary vocational education students

China's central budget will allocate four billion yuan (about 500 million U.S. dollars) to impoverished secondary vocational education students over the next five years. >> Detail

Editor: Wing