East China Normal University (ECNU) has adopted a computerized tracking system to identify poor students and provide them with extra financial assistance, Youth Daily reported Monday.

The system aims to identify students who are struggling to make ends meet to the extent that they are putting their health in danger, by either skipping too many meals or working too many hours at their part-time campus jobs, according to Wang Zhi, director of the university's work-study center, who is in charge of the system.

"By identifying these students, the university can offer them flexible financial support plans, ranging from cash to cover their regular living expenses to bank loans to pay for their tuition," Wang told the Global Times.

One of every five undergraduates at the university qualifies for some assistance under the criteria established for the system, Wang said.

The tracking system, which the university launched this semester, notifies university staff when a student meets a specific set of criteria, Wang said.

For example, a student will be flagged if he or she is spending less than 60 percent of what the average student spends per meal in the campus cafeteria or if he or she works on campus more than 40 hours in one month.

The system can access this information from the card system that students use to pay for their on-campus meals and from university employment records.

"Once we receive this notification, we will send a faculty member to confirm the student's actual financial situation and eliminate other possibilities as it might be that a student is just trying to lose weight or maybe just has extra time to spend on a part-time job," Wang said.

The university will continue to provide assistance until a student's financial situation improves, though it will suspend or stop the assistance if administrators discover students are squandering the money.

"We want to keep a close eye on students to prevent them from abusing the funds," Wang said.