Hohai University — guide for international students

Hohai University (河海大学) takes its name from the Chinese words for river (河) and sea (海), and the name describes the place. Founded in 1915 as Hohai Civil Engineering School, it was the first higher-education institution in China dedicated to water conservancy. It merged with the engineering faculty of National Southeastern University in 1924, became part of National Central University in 1928, and after 1949 sat inside Nanjing University.

The modern university dates from 1952, when the water conservancy, hydrology and water resources departments of Nanjing, Jiaotong, Tongji and Zhejiang universities merged with the East China Engineering School of Water Resources into the East China Technical University of Water Resources; it resumed its original name in 1985. Hohai is a state key university directly administered by the Ministry of Education, a Project 211 institution and a Double First-Class university, its two Double First-Class disciplines — Hydraulic Engineering and Environmental Science and Engineering — selected in 2017.

There are three campuses, and not all in one city: Xikang Road and Jiangning in Nanjing, plus Changzhou about 100 km away. Together they hold 31 colleges and departments offering 72 undergraduate, 82 master’s and 44 PhD programs. Two official pages count the student body differently: HHU at a Glance (English) gives over 55,000 students, of whom 1,359 are international, with 3,500+ faculty; the Chinese 学校简介 gives 57,215 students, 1,258 international students and 3,557 staff.

Hohai admits international students to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, and to non-degree Chinese language, short-term and visiting-scholar programs. Understand the language split first. The undergraduate intake is Chinese-taught — the list published for this intake is titled "2026 Undergraduate Programs Taught in Chinese of Hohai University", and the admission page requires an "HSK 4 or above or other relevant Chinese language proficiency certificate". At master’s and doctoral level Hohai publishes separate English-taught lists — 27 English-taught master’s and 19 English-taught doctoral programs, per its graduate guide — and applicants whose first language is not English submit IELTS or TOEFL. Applications go through the online system, signposted both as admission.hhu.edu.cn and as hhu.17gz.org, with a non-refundable fee of RMB 400 (US$60). Age limits differ by route: the undergraduate page allows applicants aged 18 to 30, yet every government scholarship Hohai channels caps undergraduate applicants at 25; master’s applicants must be under 35 and doctoral applicants under 40. One gap to plan around: Hohai publishes its cycle guide, the Prospectus 2026/2027, only as a PDF download, so the closing date for self-funded degree applications is not on its English web pages — the scholarship pages say the window "usually" runs January to May, results come by the end of July and registration is in September.

Degree programs

Select a degree level to see tuition, duration and entry requirements.

Non-degree programs

Documents to prepare

Application timeline

These are the dates Hohai 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.

Hohai channels four families of scholarship: the Chinese Government Scholarship in two forms, the Jiangsu provincial award, the Nanjing municipal award and its own university scholarship. Three points matter. The calendars are mostly earlier than self-funded admission — the fully funded graduate channel opened in November and closed its second batch in February, the university award runs January to May, and the Nanjing award is applied for in September and October, after you have enrolled. The age ceilings tighten: Hohai admits self-funded undergraduates aged 18 to 30, but every government scholarship here caps them at 25. And coverage is not uniform — the Nanjing award is a cash grant that does not cover tuition, accommodation or a stipend.

Hohai’s research is organised around a single national mission — water — and the concentration shows in what it hosts: the National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention and the State Key Engineering Research Center of Efficient Utilization of Water Resources and Engineering Safety, surrounded by ministerial key laboratories in geotechnical mechanics and dam construction, hydro-electric power engineering, hydraulic structures, estuary and coastal engineering and shallow-lake regulation. Two official pages count the platforms differently: HHU at a Glance lists 2 stage-level research institutions, 29 provincial or ministerial research institutions and 7 international research centers, while the Chinese profile counts 2 national key laboratories and 14 provincial and ministerial key laboratories.

Hohai describes itself as one of the first Chinese universities to receive, educate and confer degrees on international students, and says it has "fostered thousands of talents for over 100 countries and regions". Its English About us page puts the cooperation network at over 100 high-level universities, research institutes and international organisations; the Chinese profile gives more than 160 overseas partner universities, and the English homepage counts more than 99 nationalities on campus. Much of the engagement is water diplomacy and Belt and Road capacity-building — the university says it "actively integrates into the Belt and Road Initiative, and innovates the customized mode of talent cultivation, so as to cultivate indigenized talent for Belt and Road countries".

Hohai does not publish employment or salary statistics for its international graduates on its English pages, so treat any placement figure you see elsewhere as unsourced. What it does publish is a set of profiles of its international alumni, and they are a fair guide to where a Hohai degree leads: water and civil engineering academics and ministry engineers, mostly back in their home countries, often in Africa and Southeast Asia. That follows from the specialism — Hohai trains people for national water agencies, hydropower utilities, irrigation authorities and engineering faculties rather than for a general graduate market.

Which campus you live on is decided by your college, and it changes both your rent and your city. International students are housed in Buildings 1 to 5 of the Xikang Road campus in Nanjing, Building 20 of the Jiangning campus in Nanjing, and Building 5 of the Changzhou campus. Rooms come with beds, desks, wardrobes, chairs, water heaters, network interfaces and toilets, with public laundry rooms; bedding and personal supplies are not provided. The Students’ Services Center applies for campus cards for new degree students. Basic sport is free — the stadium, football field and basketball court cost nothing, while the halls and gymnasium are paid.

Accommodation

Dining

Hohai lists catering among the student services it provides, but it does not publish canteen locations or meal prices for international students on its English pages, so budget for food separately and ask on arrival. Canteens are normally paid for with the campus card, which the Students’ Services Center arranges for new degree students.

Facilities

Reach the International School (College of International Education), Hohai University — Admission Office, Room 305, No. 5 Building, Xikang Road Campus for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Nanjing.