Smoking Could Cost Students Tuition Relief Under Sichuan University Policy

A tuition-relief policy at Sichuan University has sparked widespread discussion after the university listed smoking among the behaviors that could disqualify students from receiving tuition reductions.

The university's notice for the 2026–2027 academic year states that students who smoke, drink alcohol, become excessively dependent on the internet or have other “consumption-related unhealthy habits” may lose their eligibility for tuition relief. The policy has since attracted significant attention online.

Who Can Apply for Tuition Relief?

Sichuan University's tuition-relief program is intended for full-time undergraduate students facing particular financial difficulties in paying tuition.

According to the published policy, applicants generally need to come from families facing serious financial hardship and meet requirements related to frugal daily living. Eligible circumstances include being the child of a martyr or a family receiving special government support, being an orphan, having a parent with a severe disability, having a qualifying disability themselves, or suffering from a major illness that has placed a heavy financial burden on the family.

Applications go through procedures including student applications, group evaluation, preliminary review and public announcement, followed by university approval.

However, the policy also specifies circumstances under which tuition-relief eligibility can be cancelled. These include disciplinary violations, falsifying application materials, smoking, excessive drinking, internet addiction or other consumption-related unhealthy habits.

The wording has led to debate over whether a student's personal habits should affect access to financial assistance.

Not Actually a New Rule

Although the provision has only recently attracted widespread public attention, the smoking-related requirement is not a new policy introduced for the 2026–2027 academic year.

According to media reports, Sichuan University had already included smoking, alcohol consumption and excessive internet use among the disqualifying behaviors in its 2016 tuition-relief regulations. The relevant standard has remained through subsequent revisions of the university's financial-aid policies.

The university's publicly available financial-aid rules also contain similar language concerning smoking, alcohol consumption, internet addiction and other consumption-related habits.

The issue, therefore, is less about the introduction of a completely new rule and more about renewed public attention to an existing condition.

Why Has the Policy Become Controversial?

The debate centers on how universities should determine financial need.

Supporters of such provisions argue that tuition relief is designed for students experiencing genuine financial hardship. From this perspective, regular spending on cigarettes or other non-essential consumption may raise questions about whether an applicant meets the program's requirement of living frugally.

Others take a different view. They argue that financial hardship should primarily be assessed through objective economic circumstances, and that smoking as a personal habit should not automatically determine whether a student qualifies for assistance.

The distinction is important because smoking does not necessarily mean that a student is financially well-off. A student could have serious financial difficulties while also having a smoking habit.

As a result, the policy has prompted broader discussion about the balance between financial-aid eligibility, personal behavior and universities' responsibility to distribute limited assistance fairly.

Similar Rules Exist at Other Universities

Sichuan University is not the only Chinese university to link certain consumption habits with financial-aid eligibility.

Media reports have cited policies at institutions including Northwest A&F University and North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, where behaviors such as smoking, drinking or gambling can affect the assessment of whether a student qualifies as financially disadvantaged or receives certain forms of assistance.

Such policies reflect an approach in which financial aid is assessed not only according to household income and family circumstances, but also according to students' reported lifestyle and consumption behavior.

A Debate Beyond Smoking

The controversy surrounding the policy has also raised a broader question:how should universities define financial hardship?

Tuition relief is intended to help students who genuinely struggle to afford higher education. Universities must therefore establish criteria to identify eligible students and prevent abuse of financial-aid programs.

At the same time, rules involving personal behavior can be more complicated than purely financial criteria. Whether a particular habit should affect eligibility depends on how the university defines financial need, how the rule is applied and whether individual circumstances are taken into account.

For Sichuan University, the latest discussion has brought renewed attention to a policy that has existed for years rather than representing a sudden change in university regulations.

The debate is likely to continue as universities across China seek to balance limited financial-aid resources, objective assessments of student need and rules concerning students' daily behavior.