Wuhan University gets tough on poor grades and unpaid tuition fees after Ministry of Education orders all scholars to be held to the same standards

Wuhan University in Wuhan, Hubei province, expelled 92 students from more than 10 countries for problems ranging from poor grades to discipline violations and failure to pay tuition fees, Changjiang Daily reported on Monday.

The expulsions followed warnings to the students a year earlier, the report said, quoting a staff member in the admissions office of the university’s School of International Education.

In the past, the university expelled just one or two overseas students a year, but the number rose this year in response to the Ministry of Education’s call to improve standards for overseas students, the staff member was quoted as saying.

“The ministry has attached great importance to international students studying in China. In the past we focused on quantity, but now quality is more important,” he said.

Wuhan University has about 3,300 international students from 120 countries and regions, majoring in subjects ranging from social science to medicine.

In September last year, the ministry specified requirements for overseas students, ordering universities to hold them to the same standards as local students.