The poverty status of 21 students was canceled, while 32 students had their poverty level downgraded at Jiangsu University on May 6th, after the university conducted an investigation into the mobile phone expenses of poor students.

The university investigated nearly 4,500 poor students by analyzing their mobile phone expenses from October and November last year.

The findings showed that about 92 percent of the targeted students had an average monthly payment below 100 yuan (15 US dollars), 6.5 percent of students paid between 100 and 150 yuan and 1.5 percent of students paid higher than 150 yuan per month.

The university decided the poverty level of students whose average monthly expenses were between 100 and 150 yuan be downgraded, and the poverty status of students whose average monthly expenses exceeded 150 yuan be canceled.

A senior official of Jiangsu University said "accurate definition of poverty students is the prerequisite and basis of accurate poverty relief."

Defining the poverty status of students is a common problem faced by all universities.

Due to the wide range of students, large numbers, and difficulties with supervision, it is unavoidable that a poverty students' pool would contain some students that aren't suffering from poverty.