NYU Shanghai Launches RMB 1 Million Scholarship for Chinese Students

NYU Shanghai today launched a new scholarship plan to recognize the achievements and potential of outstanding Chinese applicants to the university. The plan includes the establishment of the Lizhong Achievement Award, a RMB 1 million “full-ride” scholarship award covering the full cost of four years of study at NYU Shanghai, including tuition, housing, and meals.    

The Lizhong Achievement Award, named for NYU Shanghai’s founding chancellor Yu Lizhong, will be disbursed over the course of four years to exceptional Chinese students entering this fall as members of NYU Shanghai’s Class of 2025. Selection of award recipients will be based on the entirety of each candidate’s application, including high school academic achievement, performance during NYU Shanghai’s Candidate Weekend, where Chinese applicants are rigorously evaluated on their language and critical thinking skills, and scores on China’s national college entrance examination.

“The establishment of the Lizhong Achievement Award is a major step toward an even more robust need-based financial aid and academic scholarship program at NYU Shanghai,” said NYU Shanghai Chancellor Tong Shijun. “Higher education must strive for excellence, and excellent higher education must in turn strive for equity. I hope that with the establishment of this new scholarship, the NYU Shanghai community can realize that excellence and equity are not in fact diametrically opposed to each other. Each pushes the other forward.”

NYU Shanghai’s two existing merit-based scholarship awards – the Quintessence Award and Elite Award – have also increased in value by over 50 percent this year, now respectively providing awardees with RMB 360,000 and RMB 180,000 over the course of four years. All admitted Chinese students will automatically be considered for all three merit-based scholarships, and no additional application is required. Students selected to receive all merit-based scholarships will be notified of their award in late June or July.

All Chinese students admitted to NYU Shanghai – including those who receive merit scholarships – may apply for need-based financial aid from the university, in addition to China’s national student loans and the National Endeavor Scholarship. International students at NYU Shanghai are also eligible for a broad range of financial support programs offered by the university, including both merit-based scholarships and need-based aid. All students at NYU Shanghai have access to a large number of internships, both on and off campus, that can help ease financial burdens in addition to providing critical professional experience. 

This year, NYU Shanghai intends to extend final admissions offers to 251 Chinese students from among the 2,246 who applied to the Class of 2025. These students will join a roughly equal number of international students selected from over 16,000 applicants from 122 countries.