Random fee collection is a constant headache for parents of students of all levels. The Ministry of Education released a memo yesterday clarifying matters relating to fee collection in the nation's universities, and stating that university tuition would remain stable in 2005.

A few notable points:

• 10% of tuition collected must be used as financial assistance for poorer students.
• "Popular" majors are to be strictly controlled - these majors may charge higher tuition, so a school must not label all of its majors "popular" to increase its take.
• Service fees collected from the students must be voluntary - that is, schools cannot require that all students buy things like personal items and bed linens through the school.
• Requirements for accounting for all of the fees collected have been beefed-up. Fee schedules must be posted, and fees collected in excess must be returned.

In addition, the document lists the following unlawful fees (here, translated with annotations):

Major-switching fee;
support fee - a required "donation" to the school;
expanded recruitment fee - low-scoring students pay to have a school include them in its expanded enrollment;
fixed-track fee - students who agree to enter a crucial profession after graduation get a 20-point bonus on the entrance exam;
out-of-area construction fee;
junior college to undergraduate transfer fee;
vacation residence fee;
retest fee;
class retake fee;
university examination acceptance letter postal fee;
undergraduate acceptance fee;
degree application fee;
dissertation defense fee;
thesis printing fee;
class audit fee;
registration fee;
recruitment request fee - students pay to have a key university "recruit" them to get around the score cut-off;
school construction fee;
deposit insurance;
fees for any type of certificate or card

There is really nothing new here; these fees have been banned for some time. Many of them do have a legitimate reason to exist, but all have been heavily abused in the past, both by schools and by scam artists posing as "agents".

Link: Ministry of Education memo is here [Chinese]