China · Beijing, Haidian District
Tsinghua University
China's engineering flagship, with a few fully English-taught undergraduate programmes
Photo: User:Yaoleilei · CC BY-SA 3.0
- QS World Ranking 2027
- #14
- Founded
- 1911
- Students
- 63,000
- Bachelor's degree
- 4 years
- Acceptance rate
- Not published; admission by document screening and a comprehensive assessment
- How admission works
- Academic evidence is open-ended: transcripts plus national or international results such as IB, A-level, SAT, ACT or AP; no minimum score is stated. Chinese-English programmes need HSK 5 or above with each of Listening, Reading and Writing over 60. English-taught programmes need an English test (for example TOEFL or IELTS), with no Chinese proof.
- Language of instruction
- Most programmes in Chinese and English (HSK 5 required); three fully English-taught programmes
The university publishes no IB or A-level requirement. Applicants under 18 on 1 September 2027 must present a Guarantee Statement of Guardian in China at registration.
Worth knowing
Tsinghua opened in 1911 as Tsing Hua Imperial College, and its university section was founded in 1925. During the war it merged with Peking University and Nankai University into the National South-West Associated University in Kunming.
How hard is it to get in, and why
The university publishes no admission rate and no IB or A-level threshold. Applicants pass document screening, then a comprehensive assessment whose method and schedule are announced in advance; architecture and arts applicants also submit a portfolio. The decision weighs academic performance, language ability, supporting materials and the assessment. By mechanism it is closest to NUS and HKU: a holistic file review plus a second stage, with Chinese at HSK 5 as an extra filter on the Chinese-English programmes.
What it costs
Tuition
$4k–15k per year
Tuition per year: RMB 26,000 or 30,000 on the Chinese-English programmes depending on the field, RMB 40,000 for arts, RMB 100,000 for the three English-taught programmes (Zijing College 2027 admission guide) and RMB 40,000-70,000 for clinical medicine depending on the stage; the fee table is undated. Living is accommodation only: RMB 30 a day per bed in a triple room and RMB 40 in a double, times 365, a calculation. The university publishes no full living budget, so food and transport are not included. Medical insurance is RMB 800 a year.
Living costs
$2k per year
Scholarships and financial aid
Applicants can apply for the Chinese Government Scholarship (Type A, through the Chinese embassy; the usual application period is November 2026 to April 2027). The Tsinghua University International Undergraduate Freshmen Scholarship gives full, half or partial tuition for the first year, and about 45% of international freshmen received it in 2026. From the second year students can apply for others, including the Beijing Government Scholarship.
How to apply
Applications go through the online system for international undergraduates and cost RMB 800. For 2027 entry round 1 runs from 30 September to 20 November 2026 (results by January 2027) and round 2 from 21 November 2026 to 28 February 2027 (results by early May 2027); Design/Fine Arts open only in round 1, the Tsinghua-CUHK economics programme only in round 2. After document screening comes a comprehensive assessment, and architecture and arts applicants submit a portfolio. Admission documents are issued in June 2027.
Official websiteWhat makes it special
- 93 undergraduate majors and 45 minors; students are admitted by division or college and not by major.
- Zijing College is the first fully English-taught undergraduate residential college; its Global Talents in Science and Engineering Program takes four years and awards a Tsinghua bachelor's degree.
- A Tsinghua-CUHK dual undergraduate degree programme in economics, open only in the second application round.
- Architecture takes five years and clinical medicine eight years (leading to an MD); other programmes take four.
- The Zijing International Student Apartments offer double and triple rooms on campus to some international students.
About studying in China
Four-year degrees, taught mainly in Chinese; tuition and English-taught options differ by university and programme. Peking University takes international applicants through its own online system, or through the Chinese Government Scholarship, and its route without a written exam asks for HSK 6 (score 210 or more), or a 6 or above in IB Chinese HL, so the language bar at the top is high. Check each university's own page for tuition and for any English-taught bachelor's programmes. The honest caveat is that for most students the language, not the grades, decides whether China is realistic.
Teaching staff
The dossier on teaching staff for this university is still being written.
The campus in photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.
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