Sichuan University — guide for international students

Sichuan University (四川大学) is a national key university directly administered by the Ministry of Education. It dates its founding to 1896, when the Sichuan Chinese and Western School was established in Chengdu by provincial governor Lu Chuanlin on the order of the Guangxu Emperor — described by SCU’s international office as the earliest modern institution of higher education in south-west China. Today’s university combines three former national universities: the original Sichuan University, Chengdu University of Science and Technology (merged in 1994) and West China University of Medical Sciences (merged in 2000). The last of these grew out of West China Union University, founded by Western Christian missionaries in 1910.

The official campus count depends on which page you read. SCU’s international office describes three campuses in Chengdu — Wangjiang, Huaxi and Jiang’an — covering 470 hectares with about 2.817 million square metres of floor space, while the 2026 SCU Admission Guide names four: Wangjiang, Huaxi, Jiang’an and Meishan. For an international student the practical picture is simpler. The Overseas Students Office is on the Wangjiang campus in central Chengdu, and the Huaxi campus is home to the West China medical schools. Jiang’an, built in 2003, is the large newer campus where, according to Wikipedia, most first- and second-year undergraduates begin. The Overseas Students Office publishes student-apartment prices for Wangjiang, Huaxi and Jiang’an only.

SCU covers 13 disciplinary categories, including literature, law, economics, management, science, engineering and medicine. The 2026 SCU Admission Guide counts over 38,000 full-time undergraduates and over 33,000 master’s and doctoral students. It also counts nearly 3,000 international students, a figure that includes students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The Overseas Students Office’s own introduction page says more than 3,000 on the same basis, and QS’s profile gives 2,724 international students. The same guide places SCU 87th in ShanghaiRanking’s 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities. It also states that eight SCU disciplines are in the ESI global top 0.1% — Chemistry, Materials Science, Clinical Medicine, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Engineering, Computer Science, Biology & Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology & Genetics — and that 21 are in the top 1%.

SCU admits international students to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, to three tiers of non-degree study, to its Chinese Language Program and to exchange places. It has no preparatory (foundation) program. All applications go through the Overseas Students Office’s online system, and every applicant pays a RMB 600 application fee, scholarship applicants included. Applications without it are invalid. The 2026 SCU Admission Guide set two windows for the 2026 intake. Master’s, doctoral and non-degree applications ran from 1 November 2025 to 30 May 2026, and undergraduate applications from 1 January to 30 May 2026. Both windows have closed. When this guide was checked in September 2026, SCU had not published a 2027 guide. Undergraduates must submit China Scholastic Competency Assessment (CSCA) scores. Age limits for admission are: undergraduates at least 18 and under 25 “in principle” (under-18s may apply with a guardian in China), master’s applicants 18–40 and doctoral applicants 18–45. Scholarship age limits are stricter. SCU’s FAQ says results usually arrive 4–8 weeks after you submit a complete application, and applicants who do not answer the university’s emails promptly are rejected. Spring entry is limited to non-degree study and the Chinese-language bachelor’s program.

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 Sichuan 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.

SCU’s scholarship index lists three schemes: the Chinese Government Scholarship, SCU’s own “Study at SCU” Outstanding Student Scholarship and the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship. SCU’s pages do not list a Sichuan provincial scholarship. The scholarship pages are updated unevenly. The YES China and China Link notices carry dates for the 2026 cycle. The newest Chinese University Program notice is for the 2024 intake, and the “Study at SCU” and Chinese Language Teachers pages still show their 2025 editions. Use the coverage below as a guide, and confirm deadlines with nic8203@scu.edu.cn. Scholarship applicants still pay the RMB 600 application fee, and must apply both through the sponsor’s system and through SCU’s own.

SCU says it ranks among China’s leaders in the natural sciences, engineering, the humanities and social sciences, and medicine. Its most recent figure comes from the 2026 Admission Guide: eight disciplines in the ESI global top 0.1% and 21 in the top 1%. The international office’s April 2022 report on the first phase of the Double First-Class initiative records the following: six SCU disciplines advanced to the second round, SCU won four National Natural Science Awards, and it led all universities in general National Social Science Fund projects three years running. Medicine is SCU’s best-known strength and is centred on the West China Medical Center, which merged into SCU in 2000. SCU’s English website (en.scu.edu.cn) could not be reached, so no current counts of laboratories or academicians are given here.

SCU’s international office says the university has more than 200 established partnerships and cooperative relationships with almost 240 universities and research institutions in 34 countries and regions. It also runs a joint institute with the University of Pittsburgh. The page is undated, and its student numbers are lower than those in the 2026 Admission Guide, so treat these counts as approximate. For international students, the main routes into SCU are its English-taught degrees and exchanges with partner universities.

The Overseas Students Office publishes no employment figures for international graduates. It does publish rules for part-time work. You become eligible after one continuous year at SCU with no misconduct and satisfactory grades and attendance. Your college and the international student office must approve the job, which must relate to your field. You may work no more than eight hours a week, only within Chengdu’s main urban area, and you must buy work-study insurance.

How you get a room depends on your funding. If you hold a Chinese Government Scholarship or a Confucius Institute scholarship, the Overseas Students Office assigns your room by email after admission, so do not book one yourself. Everyone else books directly with their campus apartment, subject to availability, or lives off campus. SCU does not offer airport pick-up. Medical insurance is compulsory, and SCU refuses registration without it. The insurance covers only public hospitals in mainland China.

Accommodation

Dining

The Overseas Students Office does not list canteens or meal prices, so budget for food separately. Of the student apartments, only the Huaxi apartment lists a kitchen.

Facilities

Reach the Overseas Students Office, Sichuan University for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Chengdu.