Free tuition, free laptops or free textbook rentals - universities around the globe persevere with social welfare schemes for their economically backward students to ease their financial burden, allowing them to compete with their wealthy peers on a level playing field. 

A university in southern China, however, was deemed out of the ordinary as students there will be entitled to free rice and mineral water for the next decade.

On October 17, the Shenzhen Alumni Association of Xiamen University located in the port city of Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, announced that it will spend 66.6 million yuan (around 9.87 million U.S. dollars) from 2021 to 2030 to cover the cost of rice and mineral water for all the enrolled students at their alma mater.

Listed among China's leading universities under the Double First-Class Initiative as well as the 211 and 985 projects, Xiamen University now boasts one graduate school, six academic divisions comprised of 29 schools and 15 research academies with over 40,000 full-time registered students. Based on student enrollment, it is reckoned by the association that 6.66 million yuan (about 0.98 million U.S. dollars) is required each year for the project.

As of October 17, the first batch, including five alumni and a group, has pledged the funding for the first six years, saying that they were paying a debt of gratitude for years of cultivation and care.

Taking aim at high cost of living in the prosperous city, the university has been offering free rice to students on campus since 2008. Each student per day saves up to one yuan (around 0.15 dollar) under the policy, which requires student diners to eat in the college canteens.

This is the first time the alumni association has pledged to cover the outgoings for years of nurturing by the educational institution. 

The initiative, once reported, became one of the trending searches on China's Twitter-like social media platform Weibo, sparking a fair amount of admiration as well as the yearning for the prospects to study at Xiamen University in the future. Meanwhile, some netizens broached the probabilities that free water and food could make students less appreciative and likely increase food wastage.

According to the survey conducted by the Shenzhen Alumni Association, the first year of the "free-rice initiative" witnessed a 30-percent decrease in the amount of leftovers on campus. To avoid food loss, canteens on campus have set up corners for students to add or lessen the amount of rice depending on their specific needs.