China Scholarship Council

The China Scholarship Council or better known as CSC is the Chinese official institution in charge of managing Chinese Government Scholarships (CGS). CGS can be classified in two main categories: type A (bilateral programs) which are applied through Chinese embassies and type B (university CGS) that are managed by universities themselves. For type A CSC scholarship applications you will need to pay attention to your local Chinese Embassy announcements each year (usually January of each year); for type B, universities will grant the opportunity to excellent academic candidates.

CGS are usually referred as the best type of scholarships available given that they cover tuition, accommodation, insurance and even provide a monthly stipend. Nevertheless, other types of scholarships besides CSC scholarships can also offer similar or same coverage, i.e. Confucius Institute Scholarships.

CSC scholarship seats are very limited each year, making them very competitive and difficult to get. These are meant to be granted to excellent performing applicants, so expect higher screening standards. From experience, students with GPA scores averaging above 3.2/4.0 or 80/100 have higher chances. For English taught programs, it is recommended for students to have at least IELTS 7.0, TOEFL 90 or equivalent; and for Chinese medium programs, no Chinese language proficiency is required as a 1 year Chinese language preparation is usually included; possessing a HSK 4-5 certificate is a big plus though. 

Check our article on how to apply for a scholarship.