China requires individuals to have at least a high school education in future economy. However, due to financial constraints, poor children from rural China receive less schooling than their non-poor, urban peers. Drawing on data from a randomized controlled trial, this paper explores the impact of early commitment of financial aid (ECFA) on the dropout rates, plans to attend high school, and math achievement of poor students in rural China. We find that ECFA increases the likelihood that poor students plan to enter academic high school by 12%. However, students receiving ECFA did not plan to attend vocational high school any more than their peers. Moreover, ECFA has no measurable impact on dropout rates and math achievement among poor students. We conclude that ECFA may be one approach to supplement current financial aid policies and increase the number of poor students in rural China planning to attend high school.