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Study at Nanjing Normal University: Admissions & Scholarship Guide

Universities
Jul 23, 2026
Traditional Chinese-style main gate of Nanjing Normal University's Suiyuan Campus with students walking through

To study at Nanjing Normal University is to attend a school whose main historic campus once sheltered 10,000 refugees during one of the darkest chapters of the twentieth century — a fact almost no English-language guide to the university mentions. Founded in 1902 as the Sanjiang Normal School, one of the earliest cradles of higher teacher training in China, it joined Project 211 in 1996 and later became a Double First-Class construction university. This guide covers the real academic strengths, the published fees, the HSK bar, the scholarship routes, and that one extraordinary piece of campus history most brochures leave out.

Nanjing itself helps the case. It is one of China’s Four Great Ancient Capitals, and Quacquarelli Symonds has named it among the world’s best student cities (Wikipedia, n.d.-b). So the setting is doing real work here, not just the campus.

Quick Links Before You Study at Nanjing Normal University

Why Study at Nanjing Normal University: The Campus That Sheltered 10,000 Refugees

211 and Double First-Class status

NNU is not a Project 985 school, and it is worth being upfront about that if a globally famous name is what you are shopping for — weigh it honestly against the top universities in China before deciding. It did enter Project 211 in 1996, one of the “provincial key universities” jointly supervised by the Ministry of Education and the Jiangsu Provincial Government (Nanjing Normal University, n.d.-a). It was also named a first-round Double First-Class construction university in 2017, and made the second round in 2022 (Baidu Baike, n.d.).

Academic strengths: education, geography, and psychology

NNU’s real pedigree traces to teacher training, and that shows in the numbers. In the Ministry of Education’s 2012 discipline evaluation, it ranked third nationally in education and pedagogy (Wikipedia, n.d.-a). Today it holds six national key disciplines, and eight of its disciplines sit inside the global top 1% by ESI citation ranking (Nanjing Normal University, n.d.-a). Geography is another quiet strength, historically drawing some of the strongest domestic evaluation scores of any subject on campus.

None of this is an accident of branding. The university runs 28 schools and two independent colleges, with 25 first-level doctoral programmes and over 3,200 faculty and staff (Nanjing Normal University, n.d.-a). That is real depth for a school outside the 985 tier.

Location and opportunity in Nanjing

Nanjing is Jiangsu’s provincial capital and sits roughly an hour from Shanghai by high-speed rail, close enough for internships and job interviews without Shanghai’s living costs. The city carries deep imperial history layered against a modern, student-heavy economy — a genuinely comfortable base for several years of study.

Admissions: How to Apply to Nanjing Normal University

Application routes

Two doors, as with most Chinese universities: self-funded, or scholarship-backed. NNU enrols Chinese Government Scholarship students under its own agency number, 10319, through the CSC High-Level Postgraduate Programme (DAAD Scholarship, n.d.). Self-funded applicants apply directly through the university’s International Student Service System rather than the CSC portal.

Language requirements

For Chinese-taught bachelor’s programmes, published requirements ask for HSK Level 4, with a score above 210 for economics and management majors and above 195 for science majors (NNU-CISS, n.d.). For the CSC postgraduate route, Chinese-taught master’s applicants need HSK Level 5 at 180 or above, and doctoral applicants need HSK Level 6 at 180 or above — though students who currently hold only HSK 4 may still apply and complete a year of preparatory language study first (DAAD Scholarship, n.d.).

English-taught postgraduate programmes ask for IELTS 6.5 overall with no band below 6.0, or TOEFL iBT 85 (DAAD Scholarship, n.d.). Applicants who completed a previous degree fully in English may submit an English-medium instruction certificate instead.

Documents and deadlines

For the CSC High-Level Postgraduate Programme’s 2026 intake, the university’s own online application closed 20 February 2026, after which successful applicants moved to the separate Chinese Government Scholarship Information System, selecting Program Type B and NNU’s agency number, ahead of a 30 March 2026 deadline (DAAD Scholarship, n.d.). Deadlines shift each cycle, so confirm the current dates on the official admissions page rather than relying on a summary like this one. Expect to supply a passport copy, transcripts, a degree certificate, a health examination record, and — for postgraduate applicants — recommendation letters and a study plan. Our overview of university programs in China explains what these documents typically look like.

Scholarships and Tuition at Nanjing Normal University

Tuition and fees

Published annual tuition for international students runs roughly ¥16,600 for Chinese-taught bachelor’s programmes, rising to about ¥28,500 for English-taught undergraduate study. Master’s programmes range from around ¥18,200 to ¥30,000 a year, and doctoral programmes from about ¥24,000 to ¥33,000 (CUCAS, n.d.). Dormitory or apartment accommodation runs roughly ¥4,200 to ¥4,800 per semester depending on room type. Always check the current program page — fee bands vary by subject and are revised periodically.

Scholarship options

Three routes are worth knowing. The Chinese Government Scholarship covers tuition, accommodation and medical insurance, plus a monthly stipend of ¥2,500 for undergraduates, ¥3,000 for master’s students and ¥3,500 for doctoral students (Global Scholarships, n.d.). Second, the Nanjing Municipal Government Scholarship offers full tuition and accommodation support — around ¥10,000 a year for undergraduates and ¥20,000 for graduate students (Global Scholarships, n.d.). Third, the university runs its own merit-based NNU Scholarship for high-performing students. Our guide to scholarships in China sets out the wider landscape. Apply early — scholarship deadlines close well before the university’s own admission deadline.

Living in Nanjing as an International Student

Housing and campus

NNU spreads across three campuses. Xianlin, established in 2001 and covering 346.7 hectares, is the newest and largest, hosting most undergraduates (Wikipedia, n.d.-a). Suiyuan, the historic campus in Gulou District, is a nationally protected heritage site and is popularly known as “the most beautiful campus of the Orient” (Nanjing Normal University, n.d.-a). Zijin is the third and smallest. International students are generally housed in dedicated apartments or a nearby hotel-style dormitory rather than mixed undergraduate housing.

Cost of living

Nanjing sits well below Beijing and Shanghai on everyday costs — rent, food and transport are all noticeably cheaper, while the city remains large enough to offer real internship and part-time opportunities. Budget roughly ¥2,000 to ¥3,000 a month for living expenses outside tuition and rent, adjusting for lifestyle.

Getting around and city life

Nanjing’s metro network connects Xianlin University City directly to the old city centre, and the high-speed rail station puts Shanghai and Hangzhou within a couple of hours. Mobile payment apps cover daily life the same way they do everywhere else in urban China.

Visiting the Nanjing Normal University Campus

The Suiyuan Campus carries a history worth knowing before you walk it. It sits on the former grounds of Ginling College, one of China’s first colleges to grant bachelor’s degrees to women. In December 1937, as Japanese forces took Nanjing, the college’s acting head, American missionary and educator Minnie Vautrin, turned the campus into a refugee camp. Buildings designed for two or three hundred people sheltered close to 10,000 women and children at the height of the Nanjing Massacre (Wikipedia, n.d.-c; Lu, 2016). Vautrin patrolled the grounds herself, repeatedly confronting Japanese soldiers to keep them out, and later opened schools for the women who had nowhere else to go.

That history is now part of the campus’s protected heritage status, and it is one of the more striking, lesser-known stories connected to any Chinese university campus. It is worth a quiet visit if you study here — and worth mentioning to anyone who assumes a “normal university” is just a teacher-training school with nothing else to say.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Is Nanjing Normal University a 985 school? No. It is a Project 211 university, admitted in 1996, and a Double First-Class construction university. It is not among the 39 Project 985 institutions.
  2. What is NNU best known for academically? Education and pedagogy, where it ranked third nationally in the Ministry of Education’s 2012 discipline evaluation, along with strong geography and psychology programmes.
  3. What HSK level do I need? HSK 4 (with subject-specific score thresholds) for Chinese-taught bachelor’s programmes; HSK 5 at 180+ for CSC master’s applicants; HSK 6 at 180+ for CSC doctoral applicants.
  4. Can I study in English? Yes, at postgraduate level, with IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 85 typically required for English-taught programmes.
  5. How much does it cost? Tuition starts around ¥16,600 a year for Chinese-taught undergraduate study and can reach roughly ¥33,000 for English-taught doctoral programmes, before scholarships.

Conclusion: Is Nanjing Normal University Worth It?

If you want the biggest global brand name available in China, NNU is not that school — be honest with yourself about that from the start. But if education, psychology, geography or the humanities are your actual field, and you want a genuinely historic campus in an affordable, well-connected city, the calculation looks very different. Few Chinese universities carry a campus history quite like Suiyuan’s.

Confirm the current fee table and deadlines on the official admissions page, and start your China student visa paperwork early. Still comparing your options more broadly? Our piece on why study in China is a sensible next stop.

References

Baidu Baike. (n.d.). Nanjing Normal University. Retrieved from https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Nanjing%20Normal%20University/985900

CUCAS. (n.d.). Nanjing Normal University fee structure. Retrieved from https://nnu.cucas.cn/fee-structure/

DAAD Scholarship. (n.d.). Nanjing Normal University CSC fully-funded scholarships 2026 intake for international students. Retrieved from https://daadscholarship.com/nanjing-normal-university-csc-fully-funded-scholarships-2026-intake-for-international-students/

Global Scholarships. (n.d.). Nanjing Normal University scholarships: Fully funded for international students (2026). Retrieved from https://globalscholarships.com/institutions/nanjing-normal-university/

Lu, S. (2016). The living goddess of mercy at the Rape of Nanking: Minnie Vautrin and the Ginling refugee camp in World War II (1937–1938). Religions, 7(12), 150. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7120150

Nanjing Normal University. (n.d.-a). About Nanjing Normal University. Retrieved from https://en.njnu.edu.cn/about-nnu

NNU-CISS. (n.d.). Admissions — Nanjing Normal University entry requirements. Retrieved from http://njnu.ciss.org.cn/admissions

Wikipedia. (n.d.-a). Nanjing Normal University. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing_Normal_University

Wikipedia. (n.d.-b). Nanjing. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing

Wikipedia. (n.d.-c). Ginling College. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginling_College