The Ministry of Education, together with the Ministry of Finance, China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China, undertook a series of measures to provide aid and support to needy college students, ensuring that students from poor families can successfully finish their college education. 

Since the beginning of September last year, relevant financial institutions have, in accordance with the new policy, approved 2.1 billion yuan of contractual student loans to 235,000 applicants. And more than 200,000 students have received a total of 1 billion yuan of loans. Since the introduction of this national student loan program, the government has lent more than 9.6 billion Yuan to a total of 1.15 million students. Altogether 1.08 million college students have received 6.98 billion yuan of government loans. This program helped many financially disadvantaged families to send their children to universities.

(Chinanews.cn February 24, 2005)