Upon hearing he had been admitted to the law school of Fudan University in Shanghai,Li and his family were both happy and worried.
For their son to be a Fudan student had been a long-cherished dream of Li’s parents,and Li had worked hard for the past six years.
But when the enrollment notice(入学通知书) arrived in August,Li and his family had a new concern:tuition.
The notice was nothing different from those sent out a year ago,except for the last line on the paper.The tuition for the first school year is 5400 yuan ($621).
For decades,universities in China were free.But the State’s burden became heavier and heavier.
According to the State Education Commission,the government allocation to higher education skyrocketed from 9.45 billion yuan in 1992 to 16.7 billion yuan in 2003,but it still rose at a slower speed than the increase in costs.Most universities are now in serious financial difficulty.The commission finally decided on reform this year.It announced in June that 37 universities under its direct administration could charge about 4500 yuan per person for a school year beginning in September 2003.Those universities included the most famous schools in China,such as Beijing University and the Shanghai Tongji University.The commission added that the reform would be extended to thousands of universities and colleges in China in the coming years.It was a shock to tens of thousands of families,especially those earning salaries.
“To commercialize education is the tragedy of our society.”A number of people worry that some brilliant students may lose a chance for an education just for lack of money.But more agree with the reform.As everything is now put on the market,why not education?Free-of-charge education only makes lazy students.If we work out an efficient scholarship system,students from poor families stand even chances.
To ease difficulties of students from poor areas,most universities have greatly increased the amount of grants which range from 400 to 3000 yuan per year.Also,the coverage of scholarships has been widened from 40 to 60 per cent of its students.In addition,some universities also encourage its students to take part-time jobs.

当李的家人一听到李被上海复旦大学法学院录取的消息，顿时又喜又忧。
希望儿子成为复旦大学的一名学生，长期以来一直是李的父母的梦想，为此，李整整努力学习了6年。
但是，当8月入学通知书送到家的时候，李和他的家人有一个新问题：学费。
该入学通知书和一年前学校寄发的内容没什么不同，除了最后一行的收费数额，第一学年的学费是5400元。 几十年来，中国大学都是免费的，但国家的负担越来越重。
据国家教委说，尽管政府拨款给高等教育的费用由1992年的9.45亿人民币元飙升至2003年的167亿人民币，但是财政拨款增长和大学开支增长相比仍处于较慢的速度。目前多数大学有严重的财政困难。教委最终于今年6月宣布改革， 37所教委直属大学从2003年起，每学年每位学生需缴纳学费4500元。这些大学包括中国最有名的学校，如北京大学和上海同济大学。教委又说，改革将在未来几年扩大到几千所高校。这一改革给数万中国家庭，特别给工薪收入的家庭带来了极大影响。
“实现商业化教育，是我们社会的悲剧。”不少人担心，一些优秀学生可能因缺钱而失去受教育的机会。更多的人支持改革。认为一切教育资源已投放市场，为什么不接受教育？免费的教育只能产生懒惰的学生。如果我们制定了有效的奖学金制度，贫困家庭学生甚至也有得到的机会。
为了减轻来自贫困地区的学生的困难，多数大学都大大增加了助学金。额度从每年400到3000元不等。而且，奖学金的覆盖面从40%扩大至60%。此外，一些大学还鼓励学生参加兼职工作。