About
About East China Normal University
East China Normal University (华东师范大学, ECNU) was founded in Shanghai in October 1951 as the first national teacher-training university of the People’s Republic of China. It was assembled rather than started from nothing: the merger brought together Great China University (Daxia, 1924) and Kwang Hua University (1925), with faculty drawn in from Fudan, Tongji and the University of Shanghai. ECNU was itself folded into Shanghai Normal University between 1972 and 1980 before recovering its own name.
Its official milestones: one of the 16 National Key Universities in 1959, a Graduate School in 1986, Project 211 in 1996, Project 985 in 2006, and in 2017 a place in the Double First-Class initiative as a Category A member.
ECNU has two campuses and the split matters, because your program decides where you live. Putuo, at 3663 North Zhongshan Road, is the older, more central site and houses the admissions office, the Chinese-language teaching and much of the humanities; Minhang, at 500 Dongchuan Road well to the south, carries the sciences, law and several English-taught graduate programs. Together they cover more than 207 hectares.
Two official ECNU pages count the university differently, so pick your figure with care. The English site’s Facts & Figures page gives 35,000+ students, 6,000+ international students, 4,400+ faculty and staff, 4 faculties and 33 full-time schools, and 19 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The Office of International Education’s own About ECNU page gives over 39,000 students, 4,200+ faculty and 34 schools and institutes. Neither says which supersedes the other; both are cited below.
The 2027 edition, published since, places ECNU at #394, up from #=501 in 2025
China’s first national normal university
Founded in 1951 as the first national teacher-training university of the PRC, and still the country’s reference point for education, educational psychology and teacher development.
Double First-Class Category A
Selected in 2017 for the top tier of China’s Double First-Class initiative, after Project 211 in 1996 and Project 985 in 2006.
Two campuses, one city
Putuo in the north-west of Shanghai and Minhang in the south. Your major decides which — the program catalogue names the campus for every degree.
Stronger in science than the name suggests
Two State Key Laboratories — estuarine and coastal research, and precision spectroscopy — and recent publications in Nature, Science and Cell.
Admission
Admission, programs & tuition
ECNU admits international students to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, to visiting and exchange study and to Chinese-language programs, all through one system at lxsapply.ecnu.edu.cn with a single RMB 800 application fee. Two things set its admission apart. Undergraduate applicants must produce a China Scholastic Competency Assessment (CSCA) result — but for the 2026 intake ECNU set no minimum score, calling it one reference among several in its academic review, with required subjects varying by program. And the Chinese-language requirement is set per major rather than per university: the undergraduate catalogue prints an HSK level against every Chinese-taught major, from HSK 4 for the School of International Chinese Studies programs to HSK 6 for the School of Communication, so read your own row before booking a test. The undergraduate page sets no upper age limit — the under-25 cap that circulates is a scholarship rule — but applicants under 18 need a guardian’s certificate from a guardian in China; at graduate level the caps are master’s under 35 and doctoral under 40. Every date below belongs to the September 2026 intake, the cycle ECNU’s English degree pages describe; the language and short-term routes run on their own calendar and are flagged.
Degree programs
Select a degree level to see tuition, duration and entry requirements.
Bachelor’s degreeUndergraduate
Four-year degrees, overwhelmingly taught in Chinese, across education, psychology, the humanities, foreign languages, economics and management, law, communication, the sciences, computing, design and the arts. The English-taught offer is narrow: Business Administration at the Asia Europe Business School on Minhang, and Environmental Design and Visual Communication Design at the School of Design on Putuo.
- Chinese-taught humanities, education, languages, economics & management
- RMB 22,000 / year
- Chinese-taught sciences, computing, psychology, statistics
- RMB 24,000 / year
- Chinese-taught design, fine arts, music, broadcasting & sport
- RMB 28,000 / year
- English-taught Environmental Design & Visual Communication Design
- RMB 50,000 / year
- Business Administration, English-taught (Asia Europe Business School)
- RMB 54,000 single degree (4 years) / RMB 108,000 double degree (2 years at ECNU) — the official fee list heads this column RMB/Year, so read them as annual rates and confirm with the school
Application requirements
- Non-Chinese citizen with a valid foreign passport and a high-school qualification or above; applicants with foreign nationality who emigrated from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan face an extra nationality verification.
- A CSCA result — no minimum score for 2026, subjects varying by program, registration at www.csca.cn.
- Chinese-taught programs: HSK at the level set for your major — 4 with 180+ for the School of International Chinese Studies programs and the English major, 5 with 180+ for most others, 6 with 180+ for the School of Communication.
- English-taught programs: IELTS 6.0+, TOEFL 85+ or Cambridge English B2+. Native speakers, and applicants whose country’s official language is English, are exempt.
- A letter of self-recommendation of 500–800 words, a full high-school transcript and the graduation certificate; the original is produced at registration.
- Applicants under 18 need a guardian’s certificate from a guardian in China. No upper age limit applies to admission itself.
Master’s degreeGraduate
Two- to three-year degrees across the full disciplinary range, with a usable English-taught list: Political Science, Comparative Literature and World Literature, Design, International Business, Anthropology, Chinese Philosophy, Mathematics Education, Education Management, Pre-school Education, Curriculum and Teaching Methodology and Global Curriculum Leadership. The catalogue names the campus for each.
- Academic master’s programs (official fee list band)
- RMB 25,000–35,000 / year
- Chinese Language & Literature; Education Management (English-taught)
- RMB 25,000 / year
- Political Science, Anthropology, Mathematics Education, Chinese Philosophy (English-taught)
- RMB 35,000 / year
- Law (Minhang); Design (English-taught)
- RMB 36,000 / year
- Pre-school Education; Curriculum and Teaching Methodology (English-taught)
- RMB 50,000 / year
- Professional programs — International Business, Finance, Digital Economy, Professional Accounting, MBA
- RMB 84,000–154,000, listed in the same column as the per-year rates; confirm the basis with the school
Application requirements
- Non-Chinese citizen with a valid passport, a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent recognised in China, good conduct and no criminal record.
- Chinese-taught programs: HSK 5 with 210+ or HSK 6 with 180+ for liberal-arts and economics majors; HSK 5 with 180+ for arts, physical education and science majors.
- English-taught programs: IELTS 6.0+, TOEFL 80+ or Cambridge C1 Advanced 169+. The TOEFL threshold is lower than the undergraduate one (85) — a real difference between the levels.
- Two recommendation letters from associate professors, professors or senior professionals, and a personal statement of at least 1,000 words.
- Notarised degree certificate and full transcripts, with notarised translation where the originals are not in Chinese or English.
- Master’s applicants must be under 35 — a cap published on the Chinese Government Scholarship Type B page, not the general graduate page.
Doctoral degreeGraduate
Four-year doctoral study across education, psychology, the humanities, the social sciences, geography and ecology, physics, chemistry, the life sciences, mathematics and computing. Most doctoral teaching is in Chinese and the English PhD catalogue is short — Electronics Science and Technology, for example, is listed at RMB 35,000 a year on Minhang with an HSK 5 / 180 requirement. Entry is supervisor-led in practice, so open that conversation early.
- Doctoral programs (official fee list band)
- RMB 30,000–45,000 / year
- Electronics Science and Technology (Minhang)
- RMB 35,000 / year
Application requirements
- Non-Chinese citizen with a valid passport, a master’s degree or an equivalent recognised in China, good conduct and no criminal record.
- Chinese-taught programs: HSK 5 with 210+ or HSK 6 with 180+ for liberal-arts and economics majors; HSK 5 with 180+ for arts, physical education and science majors.
- English-taught programs: IELTS 6.0+, TOEFL 80+ or Cambridge C1 Advanced 169+.
- A research proposal — doctoral applicants only — and a personal statement of at least 1,500 words.
- Two recommendation letters, evidence of research achievements, and notarised degree certificate and transcripts.
- Doctoral applicants must be under 40 — again from the Chinese Government Scholarship Type B page.
Non-degree programs
Chinese language programs — standard, intensive and business
Three parallel routes on the Putuo campus: the standard program with eleven graded levels and a maximum of 25 students a class, the intensive program adding afternoon sessions across five levels, and the business program at four levels, needing HSK 2 or above and including company visits. All three require high school or the equivalent and ages 18–55 at the start date, with 16- and 17-year-olds considered after an extra review. They run on their own calendar: the business semester ran 14 September 2026 to 8 January 2027, and the standard and intensive programs next run 1 March to 18 June 2027, applications closing 25 December 2026. Check the price before paying — ECNU’s standing fee list still shows RMB 9,800 and RMB 14,000 against the program pages’ RMB 12,000 and RMB 16,000.
Fee · Standard RMB 12,000, intensive RMB 16,000, business RMB 15,000 per semester, plus the RMB 800 application fee
Global China Program
A semester-abroad package for current university students on North American credit conventions: a Chinese language course (9 credits on the program page, 6 on the exchange overview) plus English-taught China Studies courses at 3 credits each, up to four in all, on the Putuo campus. The autumn 2026 term ran 14 September to 18 December 2026, applications closing 10 June 2026. Entry needs a graduation certificate with transcript and IELTS 6.0, TOEFL 85 or Cambridge B2.
Fee · RMB 18,000 per semester, plus RMB 800 application fee and RMB 800 insurance a year
Non-degree academic study (general and senior visiting students)
Study attached to a school or department without enrolling for a degree. You need the educational background of the level you are joining — a high-school diploma for bachelor-level, a bachelor’s for master-level, a master’s for doctoral-level — plus that program’s language certificate. Enrolment is early September for autumn or mid-to-late February for spring, with deadlines of 1 June and 30 November. Some departments interview.
Fee · RMB 800 application fee; tuition follows the degree rate for the program you join
Exchange students
For students nominated by a university holding an exchange agreement with ECNU — the network runs to more than 300 institutions and includes 235 exchange programs for undergraduates. ECNU does not publish nomination deadlines, insurance terms or accommodation rates for exchange students on its English pages, so that detail sits with your home university’s international office and with ECNU’s admissions office.
Fee · Tuition paid to your home university under the exchange agreement
Documents to prepare
- The ECNU International Students Application Form, submitted online at lxsapply.ecnu.edu.cn with the RMB 800 application fee paid in the system — non-refundable whatever the outcome.
- Passport information page; applicants already in mainland China also upload the valid visa or residence permit page.
- Your highest qualification and full transcripts: the high-school graduation certificate for undergraduate entry, a notarised bachelor’s certificate for master’s entry, a notarised master’s certificate for doctoral entry. Originals are produced at registration, and by 1 September 2026 for scholarship applicants.
- Language proficiency evidence, which differs by level and by major. Chinese-taught undergraduate entry runs on the HSK level printed against your major (4, 5 or 6, each with 180+); Chinese-taught graduate entry asks HSK 5 with 210 or HSK 6 with 180 in liberal arts and economics, HSK 5 with 180 elsewhere. English-taught undergraduate entry takes IELTS 6.0, TOEFL 85 or Cambridge B2; graduate entry takes IELTS 6.0, TOEFL 80 or Cambridge C1 Advanced 169.
- CSCA test result — undergraduate applicants only, subjects varying by program, no minimum score for 2026.
- A letter of self-recommendation of 500–800 words for undergraduate applicants; for graduate applicants a personal statement of at least 1,000 words (master’s) or 1,500 (doctoral), two recommendation letters, and a research proposal at doctoral level.
- A guardian’s letter of guarantee for applicants under 18; and, for scholarship applicants only, a Foreigner Physical Examination Form issued within the last six months and a certificate of no criminal record.
- Every uploaded file must be a scan of the original, and anything not in Chinese or English needs a notarised translation.
Application timeline
These are the dates East China Normal University published for the 2026 intake. That cycle has closed. Use them as a guide to when each step falls in the year, and check the official pages for the 2027 dates before you plan around them.
- 1
Chinese Government Scholarship Type B — first batch
By 31 Dec 2025, extended to 9 Jan 2026Applicants file separately with the China Scholarship Council, whose institution code for ECNU is 10269.
- 2
CSC Type B second batch; Shanghai Government Scholarship (graduate), first window
By 1 Mar 2026 - 3
Shanghai Government Scholarship and ECNU Excellent Freshmen Scholarship
By 30 Apr 2026The undergraduate deadline for both awards, and the second graduate window for the Shanghai Government Scholarship.
- 4
International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship
By 15 May 2026Undergraduate deadline, two weeks ahead of the self-financed one.
- 5
Self-financed application deadline
By 1 Jun 2026The same date for all three degree levels, and the autumn deadline for non-degree academic study. CSC Type A applicants work instead to the date their home country’s Chinese embassy or consulate sets.
- 6
Review, evaluation and admission
Apr–Jul 2026A preliminary eligibility review, then departmental evaluation and possibly an interview. Admitted students download the Admission Notice and the JW201/JW202 form.
- 7
Tuition payment for self-funded students
By 31 Jul 2026Dormitory booking at lxsapply.ecnu.edu.cn/dorm opens only to admitted students who have paid, first-come, first-served.
- 8
Registration and the start of the academic year
Early Sep 2026Register on the date in your admission letter with the original graduation certificate; scholarship holders complete enrolment with originals by 1 September 2026.
- 9
Non-degree deadlines
Own calendarBusiness Chinese for autumn 2026 closed 31 July 2026 and the Global China Program 10 June 2026; non-degree academic study closes 30 November for spring; standard and intensive Chinese for spring 2027 close 25 December 2026.
ECNU’s degree tuition is banded by discipline rather than flat: undergraduate study is RMB 22,000 a year for the humanities, education, languages, economics and management, RMB 24,000 for the sciences and computing and RMB 28,000 for design, the arts and sport, with the English-taught design majors at RMB 50,000. Master’s programs run RMB 25,000–35,000 a year and doctoral programs RMB 30,000–45,000 on ECNU’s own fee list. The professional and joint programs sit well outside those bands — International Business at RMB 84,000–89,000, Finance, Digital Economy and Professional Accounting at RMB 99,000, the MBA at RMB 154,000 and the Asia Europe Business School undergraduate degrees at RMB 54,000 for the single degree and RMB 108,000 for the double. ECNU’s official fee list heads its degree column RMB/Year, but the program catalogues print the professional figures without stating a unit, so confirm the basis with the school before you budget. Allow also for the RMB 800 application fee, compulsory insurance at RMB 800 a year and accommodation from RMB 40 per bed per night.
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Scholarships
ECNU runs its scholarships on four ladders — undergraduate, graduate, PhD and non-degree — and the first thing to understand is that for most of them there is no separate form. The Shanghai Government Scholarship page states it plainly: the university nominates qualified candidates from the admission pool, and no separate application of the scholarship is required. What you must do instead is submit your ordinary ECNU application by the scholarship’s own deadline rather than the self-financed one — and those are earlier, in some cases by five months. The Chinese Government Scholarship works differently: Type A is applied for through the dispatching authority in your own country, while Type B is applied for at ECNU and separately at the China Scholarship Council, where ECNU’s institution code is 10269.
Chinese Government Scholarship — Type A (Bilateral Program)
A full or partial scholarship on the China Scholarship Council’s standard terms. ECNU’s index lists it as full or partial at undergraduate and graduate level, and as a full scholarship with a stipend of RMB 3,500 a month at doctoral level.
Eligibility: Non-Chinese citizens applying through the dispatching department of their home country, at undergraduate, postgraduate or visiting-scholar level. Applicants needing an ECNU pre-admission letter also submit the ordinary online application and pay the RMB 800 fee. The deadline is set by the Chinese embassy or consulate in your country, not by ECNU.
Chinese Government Scholarship — Type B (Chinese University Program)
A full scholarship: tuition exemption, on-campus accommodation, a monthly stipend of RMB 3,000 for master’s students and RMB 3,500 for doctoral students, and comprehensive medical insurance worth RMB 800 per person per year.
Eligibility: Master’s applicants need a bachelor’s degree and must be under 35; doctoral applicants need a master’s and must be under 40. Chinese-taught programs require the HSK level set for the field; English-taught programs require IELTS 6.0, TOEFL 80 or Cambridge C1 Advanced 169. Two batches for 2026: a first extended from 31 December 2025 to 9 January 2026, and a second on 1 March 2026. Apply both in ECNU’s system and to the CSC under code 10269.
Shanghai Government Scholarship
Two grades. Type A: tuition exemption, on-campus accommodation, a monthly stipend of RMB 2,500 for undergraduates and comprehensive medical insurance worth RMB 800 per person per year. Type B: tuition exemption and the same insurance, with no accommodation and no stipend.
Eligibility: Non-Chinese citizens in good health with strong academic standing. Undergraduate applicants need a high-school diploma, must be under 25 and must meet the Chinese-language standard for their major. No separate scholarship application is required — ECNU nominates from the admission pool, so what matters is applying by the scholarship deadline: 30 April 2026 at undergraduate level, 1 March or 30 April 2026 at graduate level.
ECNU Excellent Freshmen Scholarship
A living allowance of RMB 2,500 a month for the twelve months of the first academic year. It is an allowance, not a fee waiver — tuition is not covered.
Eligibility: Full-time undergraduate freshmen only; joint programs and English-taught programs are excluded. Applicants must hold a high-school diploma, be under 25, have an excellent high-school record and hold HSK 5 with 180 or above. Winners of major competitions are preferred, and you may not hold another scholarship at the same time. Deadline 30 April 2026.
International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship
A full scholarship, listed at doctoral level with a stipend of RMB 3,500 a month. Separate versions run for the one-year standard Chinese language program and for visiting students in selected liberal-arts majors.
Eligibility: Students of Chinese language and of teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages, at undergraduate, graduate and doctoral level, plus one-year language students. ECNU was the first university in China qualified to award a doctoral degree in International Chinese Education, which is why this award runs the whole ladder here. The undergraduate deadline for 2026 was 15 May 2026.
Other China Scholarship Council channels at ECNU
The Youth of Excellence Scheme of China and the China Studies Program (PhD and Joint Research PhD Fellowship) are full scholarships with a monthly stipend of RMB 3,500. The China-Link Program is different in kind: it covers living expenses, research allowances and international travel, but not tuition.
Eligibility: The Youth of Excellence Scheme is for applicants to selected master’s programs; the China Studies Program is for doctoral students in liberal-arts Chinese-taught majors, with the Joint Research Fellowship on the non-degree ladder; the China-Link Program is for students in liberal-arts Chinese-taught majors. As CSC channels, the Council’s own rules on nomination and eligible countries apply alongside ECNU’s.
Research
Research at the university
ECNU’s research rests on two very different pillars. The first is education and the human sciences, where it is one of China’s reference institutions — educational theory, curriculum, psychology and cognitive science, philosophy and Chinese studies — supported by seven Ministry of Education Country and Regional Studies Centers. The second is a natural-science base that surprises people who read the word normal in the name: two State Key Laboratories, a national engineering research center, a state international joint research center, and the Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station — the only state-level forest station in East China. Nineteen CAS and CAE academicians are on the faculty, and 443 scholars are supported by national talent programs.
Education, psychology and cognitive science
ECNU’s founding discipline and still its strongest suit: educational theory, curriculum and teaching methodology, pre-school and special education, and the School of Psychology and Cognitive Science.
Estuarine, coastal and ecological science
The State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research works on sediment, environment and ecosystem dynamics, publishing in Nature, Science Advances, Nature Communications and Geology. It is paired with the Tiantong forest station in Ningbo, running seven long-term monitoring platforms.
Precision spectroscopy and physics
The State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, established in January 2007, has more than 90 permanent members — 54 professors and 19 associate professors — and more than 300 master’s and doctoral students.
Life sciences, chemistry and translational medicine
Professor Liu Mingyao’s team published non-viral CAR-T cell therapy for lymphoma in Nature; Ma Xinran and Xu Linyan put local hyperthermia therapy for obesity on the cover of Cell; David A. Leigh’s group published work on molecular knots in Nature.
- Two State Key Laboratories — Estuarine and Coastal Research, and Precision Spectroscopy — plus a national engineering research center and a state international joint research center.
- The Zhejiang Tiantong forest ecosystem station, running since 1992, is the only state-level forest station in East China.
- Recent ECNU work has appeared in Nature, Science and Cell across CAR-T cell therapy, nanomechanical heat engines, perovskite solar cells and molecular knots.
- ECNU became the first university in China qualified to award a doctoral degree in International Chinese Education, in 2012.
Global engagement
Global engagement
ECNU works to a two-way motto — “Bring ECNU to the world, Bring the world to ECNU” — and the partner list backs it up: more than 300 universities and research institutions, weighted towards Europe (143 partnerships), with Asia and North America level at 96 each, then Oceania (18), South America (7) and Africa (5). What distinguishes ECNU is how much of the cooperation is institutional: four joint institutions with foreign universities, nineteen joint research platforms, 56 dual-degree joint cultivation programs at graduate level and 235 exchange programs for undergraduates.
New York University Shanghai
Established with NYU in 2012 and the best known of ECNU’s joint ventures — a separately accredited Sino-US university in Shanghai with six research centers. ECNU’s former president Yu Lizhong was its founding chancellor.
Asia Europe Business School
Founded in 2015 with emlyon business school of France, on the Minhang campus. It is where ECNU’s English-taught undergraduate Business Administration degrees sit, and it runs a joint MBA with emlyon.
Sino-Russian and Canadian joint institutes
The Sino-Russian Joint Institute of Technology, set up in 2016 with the St Petersburg State Institute of Technology, and the ECNU-UA Joint Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, set up in 2018 with the University of Alberta.
Joint research platforms and Confucius Institutes
Nineteen joint research platforms with partners including the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Higher School of Economics, the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon and Waseda University, plus five Confucius Institutes — the University of Turin and China Institute (2005), Vilnius University (2021), the University of Graz (2022) and Crestar (2025).
Career
Career & alumni
Be clear-eyed about what ECNU publishes here. Its graduate reputation in China is substantial, particularly in education, and its notable graduates include a Vice President of China, an Olympic champion and the founder of a listed media company. But the Office of International Education publishes no placement rate, no salary data and no employer list for its international graduates — support is delivered through a named program officer rather than a documented service. Treat any employment statistic for ECNU’s international cohort found elsewhere as unsourced.
Career support
- A program officer for internships and employment in the International Students Life and Support Office — Yin Chengxin (Henry), cxyin@gec.ecnu.edu.cn, +86-21-62606892.
- An alumni officer in the same office — Tang Shutong (Susie), sttang@gec.ecnu.edu.cn — plus an alumni network at alumni.ecnu.edu.cn carrying alumni news and graduate stories.
- An International Students Union coordinated by the Life and Support Office, and student organisations run through the Campus Life pages.
- Visa and residence permit guidance from the same office, which matters for internships: student status is an X1 or X2 visa with a residence permit, and overstaying is fined at RMB 500 a day up to RMB 10,000.
Notable alumni
Han Zheng
Vice President of China and former Vice Premier; a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.
Liu Xiang
Olympic champion in the 110-metre hurdles at the 2004 Athens Games.
Jason Jiang
Founder of Focus Media, one of China’s largest advertising and media companies.
Yuan Zhongyi
Archaeologist who led the excavation of the Qin terracotta army, widely called the father of the Terracotta Warriors.
Yu Lizhong
Geographer, former president of ECNU and founding chancellor of NYU Shanghai.
Campus life
Campus life
ECNU’s two Shanghai campuses feel quite different. Putuo, at 3663 North Zhongshan Road in the north-west of the city, is the historic campus and houses the admissions office, the Chinese-language programs and most of the humanities; Minhang, at 500 Dongchuan Road in the south, is the larger, newer science campus. Housing follows your program: Putuo students live in Dorm No. 1, Dorm No. 2 or the International Exchange Service Center, Minhang students in Graduate Students Dormitory No. 12 and No. 14. Rooms are booked at lxsapply.ecnu.edu.cn/dorm, but only once you are formally admitted and have paid tuition, and they go first-come, first-served. Payment is made in full at reservation; a cancellation before check-in is refunded in full, one within a week of check-in is charged at short-term rates for the nights used, and nothing is refunded after that.
Accommodation
Dorm No. 1 — Putuo campus
RMB 40 per bed per night
Free internet, air conditioning, two desks, two beds and two closets; shared restroom and shower, kitchen with refrigerator and laundry room. Nearest the campus clinic and student activity center.
Dorm No. 2 — Putuo campus
RMB 40 per bed per night economy; RMB 60 standard
Internet, air conditioning, desk, a 1.35 m × 2 m bed and closet, with shared kitchen and laundry. Next to the West dining hall and the outdoor courts. Fees follow the school calendar semester and are not refundable mid-semester.
International Exchange Service Center — Putuo campus
RMB 50 per bed per night economy; RMB 70 standard
The most expensive on-campus option at Putuo, with a study room among the shared facilities.
International Students Dorm — Minhang campus
ECNU posts the Minhang rates only inside a screenshot on the dormitory page, never as text, so read them there and confirm the current figures with the admissions office before you budget
Next to the Qiulin dining hall and the student center; short-term rates differ from semester rates, and enquiries go to Ms Shen at sjun@admin.ecnu.edu.cn. ECNU also lists the off-campus Shanghai International Students Service Center at 3489 North Zhongshan Road, without rates.
Dining
Putuo has five dining locations: Dining Hall East in building 6, Dining Hall West in building 38, the Liwa dining hall in building 35 — which has a Western restaurant and a Muslim canteen on its second floor — the Yifu canteen in building 18 with its 24-hour book cafe, and a Manner coffee in building 7. Minhang has four: Qiulin, Xiayu, Qiushi and Dongyue/Dongri. International students eat everywhere on campus using the campus card, which doubles as the meal card. ECNU does not publish meal prices or opening hours on its English pages.
Facilities
Sport
Putuo: an indoor badminton stadium with table tennis and basketball at buildings 23 and 3, a swimming pool in building 10, and outdoor courts next to Dorm No. 2. Minhang: badminton, table tennis and an indoor swimming pool in building 26, with outdoor courts by building 27. Opening hours and any charges are not published.
Compulsory insurance
Comprehensive insurance has been compulsory for international students in China since 1 July 2017. At ECNU it costs RMB 400 for six months or RMB 800 a year, covering RMB 100,000 for death or accidental disability, RMB 20,000 for accidental medical treatment, RMB 20,000 for outpatient and emergency visits and RMB 400,000 for hospitalisation. Without it the university cannot admit you, and a registered student without it cannot register or may be expelled.
Visa and residence permit
Study of more than six months runs on an X1 visa, valid 30 days on arrival and convertible into a residence permit inside that window; one to six months runs on an X2. You apply with your Admission Notice and the JW201 or JW202 form, and will need a temporary residence registration within 24 hours of arrival plus a medical report from the Shanghai International Travel Healthcare Center.
Library and student support
The ECNU library system holds more than four million volumes across the two campuses. An International Students Life and Support Office in Room 257 of the Gezhi Building on Putuo handles the students’ union, dormitories, insurance, alumni and employment, with a Teaching Affairs office in Room 269.
Campus
East China Normal University in photos
Photos of East China Normal University
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How much is tuition at East China Normal University for international students?+
Chinese-taught undergraduate tuition is RMB 22,000 a year for the humanities, education, foreign languages, economics and management, RMB 24,000 for the sciences, computing, psychology and statistics, and RMB 28,000 for design, fine arts, music and sport; the two English-taught School of Design majors are RMB 50,000. Master’s programs run RMB 25,000–35,000 a year and doctoral programs RMB 30,000–45,000 on ECNU’s official fee list. The professional and joint programs sit far outside those bands — International Business at RMB 84,000–89,000, Finance, Digital Economy and Professional Accounting at RMB 99,000, the MBA at RMB 154,000, and the Asia Europe Business School undergraduate degrees at RMB 54,000 single and RMB 108,000 double. ECNU’s official fee list heads its degree column RMB/Year, but the program catalogues print those larger figures without stating a unit, so confirm the basis with the school.
What Chinese or English level do I need for ECNU?+
The Chinese requirement is set per major, and the program catalogue prints the level against each one: HSK 4 with 180+ for the School of International Chinese Studies programs and the English major, HSK 5 with 180+ for most of the university, HSK 6 with 180+ for the School of Communication. At graduate level it is HSK 5 with 210 or HSK 6 with 180 for liberal arts and economics, HSK 5 with 180 elsewhere. For English-taught programs the thresholds differ by level, which catches people out: undergraduate entry takes IELTS 6.0, TOEFL 85 or Cambridge B2, graduate entry IELTS 6.0, TOEFL 80 or Cambridge C1 Advanced 169. Native speakers and applicants from countries where English is an official language are exempt at undergraduate level.
Do I need the CSCA test, and is there an age limit?+
Undergraduate applicants need a China Scholastic Competency Assessment result, with the required subjects varying by program and registration at www.csca.cn — but ECNU set no minimum score for 2026 admission, calling the score one of the references in its academic review and comprehensive evaluation. Master’s and doctoral applicants are not asked for a CSCA result. On age: the undergraduate page sets no upper limit, and the under-25 cap often quoted is a scholarship rule attached to the Shanghai Government and ECNU Excellent Freshmen awards. Applicants under 18 need a guardian’s certificate from a guardian in China. At graduate level the caps are master’s under 35 and doctoral under 40, published on the Chinese Government Scholarship Type B page. The Chinese-language programs run 18–55.
When are the ECNU application deadlines?+
For the September 2026 intake, self-financed applicants at every degree level had until 1 June 2026, and the scholarship deadlines came earlier — 30 April 2026 for the Shanghai Government Scholarship and the ECNU Excellent Freshmen Scholarship, 15 May 2026 for the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship, and for Chinese Government Scholarship Type B a first batch extended from 31 December 2025 to 9 January 2026 with a second on 1 March 2026. CSC Type A applicants work to the date their home country’s Chinese embassy or consulate sets. Self-funded students then pay tuition before 31 July. Non-degree academic study closes 1 June for autumn and 30 November for spring, and the standard and intensive Chinese-language programs for spring 2027 close on 25 December 2026.
Does ECNU offer scholarships to international students?+
Yes, on four ladders — undergraduate, graduate, PhD and non-degree. The main ones are the Chinese Government Scholarship Type A (applied for through your own country’s dispatching authority) and Type B (full tuition, on-campus accommodation, RMB 3,000 a month for master’s students or RMB 3,500 for doctoral students, and RMB 800 a year of insurance), the Shanghai Government Scholarship in a Type A grade (tuition, accommodation, RMB 2,500 a month for undergraduates and insurance) and a Type B grade (tuition and insurance only), the ECNU Excellent Freshmen Scholarship (RMB 2,500 a month for twelve months, with no tuition waiver), and the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship. The procedural point that matters most: for the Shanghai Government Scholarship there is no separate form — ECNU nominates from the admission pool, so you simply have to have applied by the earlier scholarship deadline. The Excellent Freshmen Scholarship excludes joint and English-taught programs.
Where do international students live, and what does it cost?+
Your campus follows your program. On Putuo the published rates are RMB 40 per bed per night for an economy double in Dorm No. 1 or Dorm No. 2, RMB 60 for a standard double with a private bathroom in Dorm No. 2, and RMB 50 or RMB 70 for economy and standard doubles at the International Exchange Service Center. Rooms come with internet, air conditioning, desks and closets, with shared kitchens, showers and laundry. Minhang students are housed in Graduate Students Dormitory No. 12 and No. 14, but ECNU posts those rates only inside a screenshot on its dormitory page rather than as text, so read them there and have the admissions office confirm the Minhang figures before you budget. Booking opens only to admitted students who have paid tuition and is first-come, first-served.
Contact
Contact the admissions offices
Reach the Office of International Education (Global Education Center) — International Students Admission and Management Office, East China Normal University for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Shanghai.
- Office
- Office of International Education (Global Education Center) — International Students Admission and Management Office, East China Normal University
- Address
- Room 253, Gezhi Building, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Putuo District, Shanghai 200062, P.R. China. ECNU’s pages give this room two building names — Gezhi Building on the Contact Us page, Physics Building on the undergraduate admission page — so quote the room number and street address.
- lxs@ecnu.edu.cn — Office of International Education, general admissions enquiriesjjzhang@gec.ecnu.edu.cn — Daniel Zhang, undergraduate admission contact on the 2026 undergraduate pagexyzhou@gec.ecnu.edu.cn — Xunyi Zhou, undergraduate admission contact on the 2026 undergraduate pagejlli@gec.ecnu.edu.cn — Li Jialing (Emma), postgraduate and senior visiting student admissionyyin@ied.ecnu.edu.cn — Yin Ying (Helena), postgraduate and senior visiting student admissionymhe@gec.ecnu.edu.cn — He Yumeng (Talia), Chinese language programsxywu@gec.ecnu.edu.cn — Wu Xinyi (Cecilia), intensive and business Chinese language programssjun@admin.ecnu.edu.cn — Shen Jun (Peter), dormitory reservationscxyin@gec.ecnu.edu.cn — Yin Chengxin (Henry), internships and employment
- Phone
- +86-21-62232013 — International Students Admission and Management, Room 253+86-21-62238353 — International Students Admission and Management, second line+86-21-62238352 — Fax, Office of International Education+86-21-62606892 — International Students Life and Support, Room 257 (dormitories, insurance, alumni, internships)+86-21-62233217 — International Students Teaching Affairs, Room 269+86-21-62231997 — Chinese language programs (standard, intensive and business)
Verified from official sources · last checked 2026-09-17
Tuition, fees and deadlines change every intake. Always confirm the current figures on the official East China Normal University pages before applying.
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