In order to investigate the effect of straw return on nitrogen use efficiency in maize, split design was adopted.The main plot was with no stalk and stalk amendment (7 500 kg · hm^-2), and the subplot was with four nitrogen application levels, i.e., N0(0 kg · hm^-2), N135(135 kg · hm^-2), N180(180 kg · hm^-2) and N225(225 kg · hm^-2), respectively.The yield of maize was determined and nitrogen use efficiency was analyzed.The results showed that, compared with no stalk addition, the stalk application increased the content of soil alkali-hydrolytic nitrogen and soil organic matter.Soil total nitrogen was higher under N180 and N225 treatments than any other nitrogen treatments, but there was no significant difference among N treatments.The yield of maize under the stalk application and N180 treatment was with the highest value.Under the N225 treatment, the stalk application increased yield by 11.0% compared to the no stalk application.Nitrogen fertilizer agronomic utilization efficiency and nitrogen fertilizer utilization rate were with the highest values under stalk and N180 treatment; the N fertilizer bias productivity was with the highest value under N135 treatment, while decreased by 12.4% to 37.2% with the increase of N application.Addition of stalk plus N180 application was beneficial to maize production.