Student service benefits include tuition support up to RMB 20,000 a year and routes back into education
Eligible Chinese students, graduates, and admitted new students entering military service may receive tuition compensation, repayment of qualifying student loans, or tuition waivers. Annual ceilings are RMB 20,000 for undergraduate or junior-college study and RMB 25,000 for postgraduate study. Admission or enrollment is preserved during service, with entry or return allowed within two years after discharge. A dedicated postgraduate admissions plan also exists for former student soldiers.
What it takes
No application charge stated. Submit the required documents through the school, often involving one or two visits.
What you may gain
The 2024 four-department notice raises annual military-service student assistance ceilings to RMB 20,000 for undergraduate/junior-college students and RMB 25,000 for postgraduates from autumn 2024. Assistance covers tuition compensation, repayment of national student loans used for tuition, and tuition reductions or waivers. The amount follows the higher of actual tuition paid or the eligible national student loan, including principal and interest accrued before full repayment, subject to the ceiling; excess costs are not compensated, repaid, or waived. The Veterans Support Law preserves admission or enrollment during service for people admitted to or attending ordinary higher education before enlistment, permits entry or return within two years of discharge, and allows eligible transfers to another subject within the same institution. Universities may use separate plans and admissions routes for veterans. The 2026 master's plan for retired student soldiers is separately allocated within the national total and may not be diverted to ordinary or other special plans. Institutions set preliminary-examination thresholds, generally no higher than those for the corresponding ordinary program, and favor longer service when other conditions are equal. In 2026, 532 ordinary higher education institutions participate.
Context & considerations
Pending verification: original notices for examination-free junior-college-to-bachelor progression and postgraduate preliminary-exam bonus points were not obtained, though veterans ministry summaries describe them. Check the current admissions documents; this chapter gives no bonus-point amount. The special plan and examination bonus cannot both be used under the source's described arrangement. Participating institutions change annually; there were 523 in 2025. Tuition ceilings were RMB 8,000/12,000 in 2019, RMB 16,000/20,000 from autumn 2023, and RMB 20,000/25,000 from autumn 2024; a 2022 ministry summary still shows the oldest figures. The original multiplies the latest ceilings by two to give RMB 40,000/50,000, but the relevant eligible academic years must be checked: two years of military service do not by themselves establish two years of tuition entitlement.
Research & references
Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, People's Bank of China, and National Financial Regulatory Administration (2024). Notice adjusting national student loan policies, Caijiao [2024] No. 188. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202411/content_6984812.htm; Ministry of Finance and four other departments (2019). Measures for the Administration of Student Assistance Funds, Caikejiao [2019] No. 19, Article 5. http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2019/content_5421553.htm; Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (2020). Veterans Support Law, Articles 34 and 35. http://www.mod.gov.cn/gfbw/fgwx/flfg/16048597.html; General Office of the Ministry of Education (2025). Notice on the 2026 special master's admissions plan for retired student soldiers, Jiaoxueting [2025] No. 8. http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A15/moe_778/s3261/202512/t20251211_1423174.html