Top Chinese universities charge international students up to $28,000 a year

By Lam Khanh February 26, 2025 | 03:02 pm PT

A view of Tsinghua University, China. Photo courtesy of Tsinghua University

Top universities in China are collecting up to $28,000 per year as tuition fees for international students, according to a 2025 Times Higher Education (THE) ranking.

Tsinghua University takes the top position among all Chinese universities, ranking 12th globally. It is followed by Peking University (ranked 13th globally), University of Hong Kong (ranked 35th globally) and Fudan University (ranked 36th globally), according to the World University Rankings 2025.

THE statistics revealed that international students account for 4-20% of all students in these schools. Tuition fees for international students can go up to $16,000 per year for schools in mainland China, while those studying in Hong Kong may need to pay up to $28,000 per year. Living costs, including food and housing, can range between $550-1,000 a month.

	School	Global ranking	Yearly tuition (in USD)
1	Tsinghua University	12	3,650-9,800
2	Peking University	13	3,650-4,200
3	University of Hong Kong	35	25,500-28,000
4	Fudan University	36	3,200-11,200
5	The Chinese University of Hong Kong	44	23,000
6	Zhejiang University	47	2,500-6,000
7	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	52	3,400-16,400
8	University of Science and Technology of China	53	3,600
9	Nanjing University	65	2,900-3,300
10	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	66	23,700

As of 2021, China housed around 255,700 international students, 27,000 of them being Vietnamese.

Factors that contribute to international students’ decision to study in China include increased numbers of scholarships, rising rankings of Chinese universities and the opportunity to learn Chinese, one of the world’s most spoken languages, according to higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).