2025 Student Aid System Upgraded: One Exemption, Two Expansions, Three Increases, Over RMB 390 Billion

In 2025, the student financial aid policy system was further improved, summarized as 'one exemption, two expansions, three increases'. The 'one exemption' refers to the exemption of child care and education fees for children in the year before primary school at public kindergartens starting from the fall semester of 2025. For eligible children attending private kindergartens approved by education authorities, fees are correspondingly reduced based on the exemption level of similar local public kindergartens. The 'two expansions' refer to, from 2025, expanding the coverage of the nutrition improvement plan in compulsory education to include counties in former contiguous destitute areas under local plans, and including eligible third-year students in secondary vocational education into the scope of the national grant. The 'three increases' refer to, from 2025, raising the average standard of the national grant for high school students from RMB 2,000 to RMB 2,300 per student per year; for central universities, the central fiscal support standard for graduate academic scholarships for master's students is increased from RMB 8,000 to RMB 10,000 per student per year, and for doctoral students from RMB 10,000 to RMB 12,000 per student per year.

In 2025, total national student aid funding exceeded RMB 390 billion, an increase of over 14% from 2024. Fiscal input amounted to approximately RMB 240 billion, accounting for 60% of total aid funding and remaining the main source. The disbursement amount of national student loans reached RMB 127.7 billion, up 34% from 2024, representing about one-third of total aid funding. Student aid funding continued to grow in 2025, with fiscal input consistently dominating.

In 2025, a cumulative total of nearly 160 million student-times received aid, an increase of over 5% from 2024. At the preschool level, the policy of exempting child care and education fees for the year before primary school benefited more than 14 million children. At the compulsory education level, 18.77 million students from financially disadvantaged families received living subsidies, and 27.58 million students benefited from the nutrition improvement plan. At the secondary vocational education level, 20,000 students received national scholarships, 12.79 million students enjoyed tuition exemptions, and 4.07 million students received national grants. At the regular high school level, 4.65 million students received national grants, and 1.99 million students enjoyed tuition and fee exemptions. At the higher education level, 210,000 students received national scholarships, 1.22 million students received national inspirational scholarships, 2.64 million students received graduate academic scholarships, 12.71 million students received national grants, and 8.52 million students obtained national student loans.

In 2025, the precision and standardization of student aid management continued to improve. Data on special group students achieved 'one-network sharing': under the premise of protecting student personal information, data is regularly compared with departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Veterans Affairs, and China Disabled Persons' Federation. Each school, upon logging into the student aid system, can view the list of children from low-income, special hardship, and disabled families at the school. Student aid information achieved 'one-network inquiry': the National Smart Education Public Service Platform and the Ministry of Education Government Service Platform launched functions for querying student aid policies, verifying national scholarship certificates, and checking historical student aid records, enabling students to clearly understand the programs they can apply for and the aid they have previously received.