The HSK Certificate serves three purposes:

1) To certify that the holder has obtained the required Chinese proficiency to enter a college or university in China as an undergraduate or graduate student.

* To apply to an undergraduate program in arts (e.g., Chinese literature, history, philosophy and traditional medicine), an "Intermediate Level C" Certificate (representing Language Level 6) is required.
* To apply to an undergraduate program in any other major, an "Elementary Level C" Certificate or "Basic Level A" Certificate (representing Language Level 3) is required.
* The language requirement for entering a graduate program is an "Advanced Level C" Certificate (representing Language Level 9).
* Without meeting the HSK certificate requirement, an applicant will have to take Chinese language courses at the relevant institution first. He or she may enroll in the academic program only when the required HSK certificate has been granted.

2) To certify that the holder can be exempt from taking certain Chinese courses depending on the level of certification. At the University of Michigan, HSK scores can be used to waive foreign language or humanities requirements. A minimum passing score, which is irrelevant to HSK certification, is to be set by the Chinese Program to satisfy this specific local demand.

3) To serve as a reference for hiring decisions for positions requiring a certain level of Chinese competency.