Forty-six students in China received TOEFL scholarships presented by the Educational Testing Service in Beijing on Tuesday because of their outstanding academic performances and extracurricular activities.

Under the scholarship program, each of the students will receive $3,000 to further their undergraduate or graduate study, according to the Educational Testing Service.

Founded as a nonprofit in 1947 in the US, the institution develops, administers and scores more than 50 million examinations every year, such as TOEFL and TOEIC tests, as well as the GRE test in more than 180 countries and regions.

“It is the fourth consecutive year that we have recognized the academic excellence of Chinese test takers through the scholarship program … the number of applications received this year has increased 36 percent year-on-year,” said Scott G. Pairs, vice-president of research at ETS.

Each applicant was evaluated based on his English-communication skills, academic record, leadership skills and extracurricular activities.

The students came from 19 cities in China.

Bai Xueying, who earned her undergraduate degree in French at Beijing Foreign Studies University, was one of the latest scholarship winners.

“I will go to France for business study this year, and I am quite excited about that,” she said.

“I didn't know about the scholarship program when I took the TOEFL exam last year. I … applied for it earlier this year,” she said.