When they have passed the national College Entrance Examination, millions of high school students look forward to enrolling as freshmen in the nation’s colleges, and on ‘enrollment day’ there is always great excitement. In 2013, the published admissions policies for the Ningbo Institute of Technology (NIT) attracted nationwide attention. One policy advises the parents of new students to give their children a monthly allowance of from 600 to at most 800 Yuan per month to pay for living expenses.
Xu Yicheng, a student majoring in Finance, commented, “In my opinion, this policy is unreasonable. With such high food prices nowadays, it’s impossible to live in Ningbo on only six hundred a month. We freshmen are all new here, and everyone is eager to make friends. To do this, we need to be able to spend time together socially, and this costs money.”
Another freshman, Zheng Ting, who majors in English, thinks that NIT’s policy advice is not to blame: “Frugality is a traditional Chinese virtue, so there is no denying that our school has good intentions. However, six hundred a month is only enough to pay for food. As a girl, I love to wear beautiful clothes and fashionable accessories. Consequently, six hundred a month is not nearly enough for me.”
Li Jun, a faculty member from the School of Foreign Language Studies remarked, “The policy of recommending the 600 Yuan-per-month living expense is just intended to give students’ parents a point of reference – it’s not a hard-and-fast rule. The amount should very according to the actual financial situation of each family. For example, for some students from the western provinces, 600 Yuan is a lot of money, but for students whose families live in the Ningbo region, this may be too little. However, I do advocate that all students should be thrifty with their money, no matter how much they have.”
Mr. Chen is a private business owner, and his daughter is now studying at Beijing University. He observed, “The level of personal consumption varies in each city. Because my daughter is attending university in Beijing, I expect that her level of consumption will be relatively high, but I’m still not sure what her minimum requirements actually are. I just feel that I should give my daughter what she needs.”
With the current controversy over the 600 Yuan-per-month policy, it is very important that we understand the school’s aim in giving this advice. NIT advocates the values of traditional Chinese culture. In modern society, excessive personal consumption has a number of negative effects. Inevitably, some students will see their university years as an opportunity to relax and enjoy themselves instead of as a time for serious study. If students are taught the value of being frugal with their money, they can avoid the negative consequences of blind consumption. In addition, they can learn valuable lessons about how to manage their personal finances.
