New study evaluates China's free teacher education scholarship: Attracting talent and enhancing effectiveness

China’s Free Teacher Education (FTE) scholarship program, launched in 2007, aims to attract top students into teaching and address teacher shortages in underdeveloped regions. A new study finds that FTE scholarships draw high-performing students who are more likely to end up as teachers. Despite experiencing slightly higher burnout, these scholarship recipients demonstrate superior teaching effectiveness.

The Free Teacher Education (FTE) scholarship, launched in 2007 by the Chinese Ministry of Education in partnership with the nation's top normal universities, represents a major investment in teacher education. It offers selected students a fully funded undergraduate education, covering tuition, accommodation, and providing a living stipend, in exchange for a mandatory service commitment to teach in their home province for a minimum of 6 years after graduation. While the policy has been praised for increasing teacher supply, its impact on teacher quality, placement patterns, and long-term retention remains under-examined.

In a study published online on June 16, 2025, in the journal ECNU Review of Education, researchers from Northeast Normal University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Nanjing Normal University, and Brown University undertook this critical evaluation. They employed a robust, mixed-methods approach to analyze extensive longitudinal administrative and survey data from a leading Chinese normal university and a provincial education department in China. The study compared FTE scholarship recipients with non-recipients across the entire career pipeline: from pre-college characteristics and university performance to first-job placement, in-service teaching effectiveness, and occupational burnout.

“Our findings show that the FTE scholarship is highly effective in attracting academically strong students into teaching—over 98% of recipients became teachers after graduation, compared to only 20% of non-recipients from the same university,” explain Shi et al.

The study demonstrates the FTE scholarship’s power as a recruitment and retention tool. Recipients were found to have significantly higher scores on the college entrance exam and were more likely to come from rural areas or economically disadvantaged family backgrounds. Beyond mere recruitment, FTE graduates prove to be highly competent educators. The research found a clear positive correlation between the proportion of FTE teachers in a school and student academic achievement. Schools with a higher concentration of FTE teachers showed statistically significant improvements in standardized test scores. The researchers attribute this effectiveness partly to the enriched pedagogical training FTE students receive, as they complete substantially more education-focused coursework during their studies compared to non-FTE peers who later enter teaching.  

The study found that while financial incentives could attract and retain talented teachers, they might not fully address motivational or placement challenges. The study also concludes with targeted recommendations for policymakers. It suggests integrating dedicated well-being support, such as mentorship and mental health resources, for FTE teachers to mitigate burnout. Furthermore, it calls for the creation of tiered, substantial incentives, like significant salary premiums or accelerated promotion tracks, for those who choose to teach in designated rural or high-need schools. “The policy is unequivocally successful in its primary missions: attracting top students and producing effective teachers. However, our data reveals some details needed to emphasize, such as their professional well-being. To maximize the impact of such scholarships, policymakers need to consider supporting teachers’ well-being and creating incentives for serving in the most underserved schools,” Shi et al. conclude.

This study underscores that sophisticated teacher supply policies like the FTE scholarship are essential but not sufficient. Achieving the dual goals of quality and equity in education requires a holistic approach that combines financial incentives with thoughtful support structures and targeted systemic interventions.

Funding information

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant No. 72274033], received by Dr. Yan Shi.