Who we are

• About Us
• Why CUCAS was set up
  
• Functions
• Relationship with China's universities
• Our Support and Cooperating Organizations 

About Us

CUCAS is an official organization providing application services across a range of subject areas and modes of study for China's universities and colleges. CUCAS aims to help international students make informed choices about higher education in China, guiding them and their parents through the application process. You will notice that our domain name ends in "edu.cn". In China, only a public university or an organization with an official background can use a domain name ending in "edu.cn". Please realize that we are not a university; rather, CUCAS is the only online platform authorized by China’s universities to directly receive international applications to study in China.

Peter Zheng, the chief executive officer of CUCAS

Why CUCAS was set up

In 2008, the number of foreign students studying in China reached 230,000. Over the past decade, the annual growth rate has been about 20 percent. The Chinese government launched the "Study in China Program", hoping to attract 500,000 foreign students to study in China by 2020.

Setting up a specialized organization to help foreign students to come and study in China is one of the important arrangements needed to achieve this goal.  Similar organizations in other countries in the world have been running effectively for many years, such as UCAS in the United Kingdom and several specialized companies providing this kind of service in the U.S.

Functions

On www.cucas.edu.cn, we publish information on qualified universities and programs authorized by the Ministry of Education of China, offer an online admissions system for Chinese universities processing students’ applications, and provide an advisory service for foreign students. In brief, we are not a regular education agent; we are an authorized service provider with online enrollment technical solutions for China's universities, and an allocation center for student admissions.

Relationship with China's universities

The relationship between CUCAS and China’s universities is one of service provider and customer. CUCAS is not owned by any Chinese university.

Although we were established for the aspirations of the Chinese government, the Chinese government does not compel institutions to choose our services. So far, nearly 200 universities have voluntarily joined our service system. Universities have signed Technical Service Purchase Agreements with CUCAS.

CUCAS’s web editors team meeting

Universities recommend students to use our services and give priority to applications sent through our platform. The CUCAS system ensures the applications arrive at school on time and makes the admissions process more convenient.

Our operating costs are supported by the following:

• Annual technical service fee paid by universities, also known as the membership fee.
• CUCAS Service Fee paid by applicants, which is 50 U.S. dollars.
• Other service income for non-profit purposes.

Our Support and Cooperating Organizations

Our technical platform is supported by the China Education and Research Network  and the Center for Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK).

CERNET was established in 1994, which is the first Internet in China, and the largest academic resource network in the world. CERNET is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Education, and initiated by Peking University, Tsinghua University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, University of Electronic Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, South China University of Technology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Southeast University, Northeastern University, Xi'an Jiaotong University and other prestigious universities. Up to now, 2000 of China's universities and more than 25 million college students use the network service provided by CERNET. If you study at China's universities, you would also use the Internet access services provided by CERNET. Additionally, CERNET manages the domain name of 'edu.cn' in China.

The Center for Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) is our strategic partner (www.hsk.org.cn). The Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) is a national standardized test to assess the Chinese language proficiency of non-native speakers. Both sides hope that applicants who have the required HSK results can apply to China's universities. Meanwhile,  those who don't have HSK results may still have the opportunity to learn more about HSK. In future, we will consider offering more services for students, e.g. students may register for the HSK test on CUCAS.