Poverty in China’s Colleges and the Targeting of Financial Aid

To examine poverty on China's campuses, we utilize the Chinese College Students Survey carried out in 2010. With poverty line defined as the college-specific expenditures a student needs to maintain the basic living standard on campus, we find that 22 percent of college students in China are living in poverty. Poverty is more severe among students from the rural or Western parts of the country. The college need-based aid program must be improved because its targeting count error is over 50 percent. Lacking other income sources, poor students rely heavily on loans and working to finance their college education