China strengthens student safety net by expanding financial aid

Student aid recipients in China reached 160 million in 2025, up 4 percent year-on-year, a tangible indication of the country's efforts to make education accessible to all so that every child, regardless of family circumstances, has an opportunity to succeed, the Ministry of Education announced on Tuesday.

Total funding exceeded 390 billion yuan ($57.6 billion) in 2025, up more than 14 percent from 2024, according to ministry data.

Government appropriations remained the primary source of funding, reaching about 240 billion yuan, or roughly 60 percent of the total, Liu Yuguang, head of the ministry's Department of Finance, said at a news conference.

China's student aid system is primarily government-funded, with additional support from schools and society. It provides both grants and loans, focusing on helping students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds and simultaneously rewarding academic excellence, Liu said.

"The system guarantees that no student is denied an education because of family financial difficulties," he said.

The ministry also highlighted policy upgrades introduced last year. Beginning with the autumn semester, tuition and educational fees for the first year of preschool at public kindergartens were waived, benefiting more than 14 million kindergarten students, Liu said.

Management efficiency has also improved. Student data is now shared across multiple ministries, enabling schools to identify eligible students with special needs and disabilities, as well as those from low-income households, while safeguarding personal privacy, he added.

State-subsidized student loans increased 34 percent year-on-year to 127.7 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for about one-third of total student aid funding, Liu said.

Chen Shumei, director of the China National Center for Student Financial Aid, said the government-subsidized student loan program was launched in the late 1990s. By the end of 2025, cumulative loans had reached 695.8 billion yuan, benefiting more than 30 million students.

In 2025 alone, 8.52 million students received loans, accounting for about one-fifth of all college enrollments, she said. The loans require no collateral and cover tuition, accommodation and living expenses.

Since 2012, the maximum annual loan amount has been raised four times, from 6,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan for undergraduates and 25,000 yuan for postgraduates, she said.

Interest is fully subsidized by the government while students are enrolled, and a range of repayment support measures — including lower interest rates, extended repayment terms and grace periods — is available after graduation, she added.

An Juntang, deputy Communist Party of China secretary of Lanzhou University, said the university enrolls a large number of students from western regions and disadvantaged backgrounds, making financial aid not only a matter of educational equity but also a strategic priority for cultivating talent in western China.

Beyond providing financial assistance, the university places a strong emphasis on value-based education, encouraging financial aid recipients to pursue careers in western regions and at the grassroots level, he said.

Over the past five years, more than half of the university's graduates have chosen to remain and work in western China, with many participating in rural revitalization and ecological protection efforts in the Yellow River Basin, he said.

Xiang Lubin, a doctoral student at Anhui University from a mountainous area in Hunan province, shared his personal experience.

Growing up in an impoverished environment, Xiang once considered dropping out of school. However, a middle school principal informed him about local student aid policies that would cover his tuition, fees and living expenses. In 2017, he enrolled at Anhui University with a student loan that covered his tuition and accommodation, supplemented by grants and work=study opportunities.

Over the years, he received more than 180,000 yuan in financial aid. After graduating in 2022, he joined the Go West volunteer program and taught at a rural school in Chongqing for a year.

"For me," he said, "the promise that 'no student should be deprived of education because of financial difficulties' has never been just a slogan. It is the strongest safety net that the national student aid policy provides for students like me."