On August 13th the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education released the “Study in Jiangsu Program 2014-2020”. The program plans to increase the enrollment of foreign students to 50,000 by 2020.
According to the program, foreign students will account for more than 5 percent of postgraduate students in high-level colleges by 2020.
“Colleges and universities in Jiangsu began to accept foreign students in large numbers in 1955,” said Lin Yue, chief of the International Exchange Division of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education.
Jiangsu will also launch the construction of training bases for foreign students, added Lin Yue. Three to six provincial-level bases will be constructed to provide foreign students with academic and language training prior to commencing their studies in Jiangsu’s colleges and universities.
Jiangsu plans to reduce tuition and accommodation fees to attract larger amounts of foreign students. In 2010, the province established the “Jasmine Government Scholarship for Foreign Students in Jiangsu” which increased its funding to 15 million yuan ($2.44 million) per year. This figure will continue to increase at a specified rate as the years progress.
Lin Yue said that Jiangsu has revised the rules of the Jasmine Scholarship this year. Both full and partial scholarships are now available to foreigners studying for doctor’s, master’s or bachelor’s degrees and bilateral exchange students from partnering foreign provinces, states, shires and counties. The full scholarship includes the reduction or exemption of tuition fees, accommodation fees, basic living expenses, and medical insurance, amounting to 94,000 yuan ($15,277) per year at most.
