Confucius Institute Scholarship 2025 (Application Process)

Pursue your studies in China. Good news! Confucius Institute Scholarship is currently open. In this article, we will explain in detail about the Confucius Institute Scholarship, its benefits, and the step-by-step application process. The Confucius Institute Scholarship 2025-2026 is a fully funded scholarship for international students. This scholarship is offered to study Chinese language and culture in more than 150 Chinese universities. The CIS scholarship includes tuition and lodging fees, medical insurance, and a monthly allowance for personal expenses.

Confucius Institute Scholarships are offered for specific doctoral studies, research stays, participation in international conferences, and Chinese language and culture courses. If you are interested in scholarships offered for postgraduates and researchers, you can take a look here.

Summary

• Country: China
• Donor: University of Duke
• Scholarship institutions: 150 Chinese universities
• Countries available to apply: All countries in the world
• Application deadline: Until the beginning of May (usually day 1) if you want to apply for a scholarship to start in September, and until the beginning of November if you want to start in March.

Also; read: Keio University Japan ADB Scholarship (Fully Funded)

Benefits

A Confucius Institute scholarship includes tuition and lodging fees (in a university residence, in a room shared with another person), basic medical insurance, and a monthly allowance for personal expenses, divided as follows:

• 2,500 Yuan per month for BTCSOL students or Chinese language and culture course (about 350 USD/mmonth).
• 3,000 Yuan per month for MTCSOL students (equivalent to about 420 USD per month).

Recently, the possibility of scholarship holders living outside campus (rejecting accommodation in the university residence) has been considered. In these cases, the Confucius Institute offers 700 Yuan per month (in addition to the monthly allowance) to support rental expenses.

Categories and Duration of the Confucius Institute Scholarship

Scholarships for the study of the Chinese language and culture. There are three types:

• Scholarships for an academic year: They are a total of 11 months that can start in September (until July of the following year) or in March (until January of the following year).
• Scholarships for an academic semester: The actual duration of the scholarship is 5 months. It can be the semester that goes from September to January (winter) or the one that goes from March to July (summer).
• Scholarships to study four weeks: One-month courses are taught during the winter holidays in China (December-January) or during the summer holidays (July-August).

Scholarships for future teachers of Chinese. There are three modalities:

• Scholarship to study the Master in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (MTCSOL): It lasts 2 academic years.
• Scholarship of one academic year of Chinese language and culture + 2 years of MTCSOL: In total there are 3 academic courses.
• Scholarship to study the bachelor in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (BTCSOL): It has a duration of 4 academic courses.

The three CIS scholarships to train Chinese language teachers usually start in September or March. The application for these scholarships must be made online. During the process, the system will offer you the possibility of choosing, in order of priority, two universities from the 150 universities that offer this scholarship throughout the country. Take a look at the universities which offer Confucius Institute Scholarship (register first to access all the information, which is in Chinese and English) and find the course of your choice (not all universities offer all the modalities mentioned above).

Eligibility Criteria

Following are the documents and eligibility requirements for Confucius Institute Scholarship:

1. Not have a Chinese nationality and enjoy good health. If you are going to study for a period longer than six months, you need to prove that you are in good physical and mental condition to process your residence permit in China. For this, you will have to deliver, once at your destination university (it is not a required document during the application period), a duly completed copy of the official Chinese medical form or Foreigner Physical Examination Form.
2. Applicants must be between the ages of 16 and 35 (it is extended up to 45 years for people who demonstrate that they are working as Chinese teachers at the time of applying for the scholarship). Applicants for undergraduate scholarships cannot exceed 20 years of age.
3. It is essential to have a degree of Chinese language level (written and oral HSK and, in some cases, BCT and oral BCT are also accepted). This requirement is according to the type of scholarship. For example, for the scholarship to study an academic course of Chinese language and culture, you need to have a minimum of 180 points in the written HSK3 and a minimum of 60 points in the oral HSK. To check the complete language requirements, click here.
4. Minimum qualification: Regarding the MTCSOL scholarship, it is necessary to deliver the diploma and the academic record of undergraduate studies. In the case of the BTCSOL scholarship or the Chinese language courses, you must prove that you have completed your high school studies. If you do not have this documentation in English or Chinese, you will have to submit a sworn translation to either of the two languages.
5. A letter of recommendation in the case of scholarship applicants who want to study a Chinese course or to study BTCSOL, and two in the case of MTCSOL scholarship applicants. The letters must be signed by the in charge person of the Confucius Institute through which you apply for the scholarship.
6. In the case of the MTCSOL scholarship, those applicants who demonstrate that they have a job as Chinese language professors after completing the master’s degree studies in China will be preferred.
7. In the case of one-semester or four-week scholarships, you do not have studied in China before.

How to Apply

To apply for a Confucius Institute Scholarship, please follow the following procedure:

1. Delivery of applications: If you are a student of the Confucius Institute (ideal to apply for this scholarship), contact the in-charge person of the scholarships. The application must be made online in the official page of the Confucius Institute scholarships (you need to have all the documents scanned, including your passport and a passport-size photo).
   • Then you must submit all the required paper documents (preferably certified copies, since they will not be returned). The in charge person of the scholarships of your Confucius Institute will be responsible for sending them by post to the headquarters of Hanban (central offices of the Confucius Institute in China). If you are not a student of the Confucius Institute, you can apply online and submit the documents to the nearest Confucius Institute, to a Chinese embassy or consulate in your country, or to some exam centres or educational institutions in your country that are linked with Hanban.
2. Result date : The final result of the scholarship students can be found on the official page of the Confucius Institute scholarships at the beginning of July (if you are going to start in September) or at the beginning of January (if you start in March).
3. Sending documents to process the visa: The necessary documents to process the visa are sent by postal mail within 15 days after the publication of the result. At this point of the procedure, I recommend patience, since you may have to wait more than a month to receive the letter.

NOTE: During the online application process, you will be required to write a short motivation letter that details your reasons and expectations before the scholarship (about 300 words).