Language study scholarship - is this standard practice?

[aowihewoai]

I applied to a university through CUCAS for a one-year Chinese study program (non-degree). They informed me that I received a full scholarship for the tuition, ie. it is waived. But the strange thing is that they still seem to require that the tuition is paid upfront. It would be refunded after around three months into the first semester. Is this standard procedure in China? This is a 学院 in southern China.

[edelweis]

I've always heard that you pay university tuition when you're in China. Before going to China, you only pay application fees.

This sounds fishy.

Who exactly is offering the scholarship (CUCAS? university? other?)

How much is the "tuition" that you're supposed to pay upfront?

[aowihewoai]

Thanks for you response. Frankly, I don't know when exactly the tuition is due. I might be able to pay it in China. But I'm just surprised that I have to pay it, even though I was awarded the scholarship. I'm worried that I most likely wouldn't have any recourse against the university at all as a non-resident foreigner in the event that they, for whatever reason, didn't refund the money as promised. The scholarship is provided by the school. The full tuition for one year is RMB14,000, IIRC.

[HuayangAcademy]

Have you contacted the University international department directly?

[edelweis]

Govt scholarships like the CSC don't require you to pay tuition at all.
Why would a scholarship from the uni itself require you to pay tuition upfront??

Does the scholarship have a name? For instance, the Jasmine scholarship?
Did you even apply for a scholarship?

[roddy]

The only reason I can see for an arrangement like that is if you're not guaranteed the scholarship. So if you can afford the fees and this is where you want to go anyway, fantastic. If you're relying on the scholarship - well, I don't think you can. Bear in mind that recruitment staff may have quotas and bonuses to worry about, and you might not get the full facts. 

 

If it's a case of 'you're guaranteed the scholarship, but you have to pay the fees up front' - that's ridiculous. The point of a scholarship is to fund people who can't afford the fees. That just looks like someone trying to fill a cashflow problem.

 

I know absolutely nothing about this specific case, but I find it entirely plausible that you'll end up with 20 people on the course, all thinking they have an excellent chance of getting one of 2 scholarships.