Summary

China's Fujian Province has recently announced official limits for tuition fees at Sino-foreign joint higher education programmes. Fees for science programmes should be no more than three times the standard fee for domestic programmes in the same subject at the relevant HEI, while those for programmes in the humanities can be up to 4 times the standard tuition price for that subject.

Based on tuition fees at universities in the province, this would put maximum TNE tuition fees at around RMB 20,000 per year for bachelor's degree programmes. This is roughly in line with historical tuition fee approvals in the province, the largest proportion of which are set at RMB 20,000 per year.

Like other provinces, Fujian's regulations also specify situations in which the set cap can be waived. Programmes meeting any of the three conditions below can exceed the 3x/4x limit but this must be approved for each new partnership on a case-by-case basis:

(1) The Chinese partner is included in the national World Class Universities and Disciplines ("Double First Class") project, and the subject meets provincial development needs. Notably, the announcement does not require the subject of the joint programme to be one of the Chinese partner's "first class" disciplines.

(2) The overseas partner is in the worldwide top 300 in one of three international rankings: the Shanghai Jiaotong Academic Ranking of World Universities, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, or the US News Best Global Universities ranking. Alternatively the overseas partner can have an equivalent position for the specific subject being offered by the programme.

(3) The partnership is in the form of a joint institute (either with or without separate legal entity and degree-awarding powers) rather than an individual joint programme

Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, British Council International Education Services

When considering a transnational education partnership in China, UK HEIs should pay close attention to the tuition fees that such a programme could charge, which depend mainly on approval at the provincial level. Fujian's publication of tuition fee standards sets a clear guideline on allowable fees in this province.

UK universities should also pay attention to the exceptions stated in the policy. A large number of UK institutions are ranked in the top 300 worldwide, while two of Fujian's own institutions - Xiamen University and Fuzhou University - are included in the World Class Universities and Disciplines project. In this case fees would have to be discussed individually with the provincial pricing bureau but higher fee limits can be expected, making it easier for programmes to be financially sustainable.

Other Chinese provincial-level regions that have announced official TNE tuition fee standards are Shanghai and Jiangsu, as discussed in the IES market news report linked below. In most other provinces, however, there is no official standard and the best way to assess potential tuition fees is to look at the prices of similar programmes that have previously been approved in the same province.

Sources

1. Xinhua - New regulations for Sino-foreign joint programme tuition fees in Fujian (in Chinese): http://www.fj.xinhuanet.com/shidian/2019-08/04/c_1124834794.htm

2. British Council International Education Services - China's Shanghai Municipality and Jiangsu Province announce revised fee standards for international joint programmes (June 2018): https://education-services.britishcouncil.org/news/market-news/chinas-shanghai-municipality-and-jiangsu-province-announce-revised-fee-standards