Tsinghua University 清华大学

Regarded as China's MIT - with an attitude to match - recent renovations brought Tsinghua squarely into the 21st century. Famous alums include Hu Jintao, Zhu Rongji and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Chen Ningyang. It offers several Chinese language programs that include numerous electives. Tsinghua has exchange programs with several prestigious foreign universities. Tuition RMB 20,000 for undergrads (RMB 26,000 for sciences), RMB 23,000 for masters (RMB 30,000 for sciences), RMB 30,000 for PhDs (RMB 40,000 for sciences). Language program RMB 19,000 per year.