How to Get a Free Master’s Degree in China

A few days ago I came to the stark and utterly obvious realization that all of my time here in Shanghai has orbited around one central institution: Jiao Tong University.  Currently I am teaching test preparation on Jiao Tong’s Qibao campus, about six stops away from where I live.  Before I even arrived in China I had registered at the university’s language school on Xuhui campus (the main school), which offers six month or one year visas and aims to inculcate learners with the valuable skills they need to order food in restaurants.  Nine months after enrolling, I stumbled across a classroom holding a small Q-A session on a master’s program, where a professor handed me a brochure.  Still unsure of my next move, I thought “What the hell, let’s give it a shot.” 

What is it?   

That's me up there, defending my thesis proposal

The program I enrolled in was on China’s Political Economy.  Courses such as Urban Development, Foreign Policy, Economic Policy, Chinese Outward Investment and Energy in China were on offer.  I found a few students who had enrolled the year before as well as some of the school’s professors and hit them up for information.  Courses were offered in both English and Chinese.  I had a very helpful program coordinator named Jingjing who guided me through the application process, waiving the application fee. 

I can only speak to the program that I took, but as I understand many universities in China have similar MA programs taught fully in English with scholarships available.

This is the school’s website:   http://www.cpe.sjtu.edu.cn/index.php

How is it free?

This program needs participants.  The Chinese government, in an effort to boost the quality of its university programs and perhaps both attract foreign students and dissuade native students from seeking education overseas, offers scholarships to students from abroad.  Blatant discrimination: 10 “special scholarships” were reserved for American students, part of a US-China cooperation agreement.  I was one of them. 

The scholarship:

There were two full scholarships available, one from the Shanghai government and another from the Chinese central government.  My scholarship included:

·         Tuition for 2 – 2.5 years.  if I hadn’t graduated within 2.5 years, the scholarship would’ve ended, leaving me to foot the bill.

·         Free student housing.  I already had a place where I lived, so I just rented it out.  I didn’t go so far as to list it on Airbnb, but in retrospect I probably should’ve milked that room for all it was worth. 

·         A living stipend.  When I first started the program it was 1,700 RMB per month.  That’s not much in Shanghai, but you could live off it if you ate at the cafeteria and never went to a bar.  I believe it increased during my time there.   

The program:

The first year was focused on taking classes.  Some were better than others, and the quality of the lessons, fairness of the teacher’s grading policy and interactivity of the classes varied significantly.  I was happy with most of the courses, but disappointed with some.  As a student, however, you can audit any class you like and I was free to take classes from the economics college and law school in addition to our school (School of International Public Affairs).  If I had had the inclination to travel all the way to Minhang campus I could’ve sat in on all kinds of courses, from mechanical engineering to philosophy.    

The second year was quite free, too free in my opinion.  We had to finish a thesis, but I felt that one year was far too long for that: three months would’ve been enough as our requirements were not very strict.  I devoted about a third of my time to working, a third to writing my thesis and a third to traveling. 

Takeaway points:

• If I had come into the program expecting a well-organized, quality-focused MA program, then I would’ve been disappointed.  Rather, I used the program as a tool to better understand China and launch my career (whatever that is).  I also really didn’t have anything better to do at the time. 

• Even with some classes requiring lots of coursework, there is still plenty of downtime, especially in the second year.  Some students just chilled, happy to live off the small stipend and work slowly on the thesis.  Most found something else to get into though, whether was starting a business, working part-time, traveling, etc. 

• I can’t speak to whether or not this degree will be useful.  If I pursue a career in education then it most likely will; if I start a business, maybe it won’t.  At any rate, I’m certainly happy with the unique insights I’ve gained and the great people I’ve met.