According to former Vice Education Minister Zhang Baoqing, it is
still difficult to accurately calculate tuition fees.
He explained that there are two ways to estimate the education
costs. One is "academic year payment" which means that all
expenditures of school in one academic year should be factored in;
the other is called "tuition fees including investment" that cover
all the investments and costs during the past years as well as in
the future.
"In fact, both of the methods are difficult to put into
practice," he said, adding that China generally adopts the second
method.
Zhang said that there is no standard for scientific allocation
of the long-term investments on fundamental facilities to college
students, such as land, academic buildings, dormitory compounds and
research centers.
After careful studies of a school's average annual costs, the
per capita education fees range from 14,000 yuan (US$1,750) to
10,000 yuan (US$1,250). Students are required to pay for nearly a
quarter of the total amount, 3,500 yuan (US$437.5), according to
Zhang.
(China.org.cn by Wang Ke, September 11, 2007)