Higher education in China

In 2023, the university enrollment rate was 60.2% according to the Ministry of Education, representing 47 million mainland Chinese students enrolled in 4-year university and college degree programs in some 3,074 Chinese tertiary institutions.[1] Entry into universities is intended to be meritocratic in which successful entry depends only on the result of the Gaokao entrance examination.[2][3] Usually, 12 years of formal education is a prerequisite for entry into an undergraduate degree.[4] Entry is not influenced or determined by sporting activities, extracurricular programs, donations, or alumni parents and siblings. Chinese education authorities have emphasized meritocracy as a social equalizer.[2]

There are 13 statutory types of academic degrees in China: Bachelor/Master/Doctor of Philosophy, Economics, Law, Education, Literature, History, Science, Engineering, Agriculture, Medicine, Management, Military Science, and Fine Arts. These degree names are designated by the degree program's academic emphasis and the classification of disciplines.[5][6][7][8]

China is also a major destination for international students, being the most popular country in Asia for international students,[9] the leading destination globally for Anglophone African students,[10] and the second most popular in the world.[11] In 2017, China surpassed the U.S. with the highest number of scientific publications.[12][13] There were 17 Chinese universities on lists of the global top 200 behind only the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of the overall representation in the 2023 Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities, a composite ranking system combining three of the world's most influential university rankings (ARWU+QS+ THE).[14] China has dominated the QS BRICS University Rankings and the THE's Emerging Economies University Rankings, claiming seven of the top 10 spots for both rankings. China is also the most-represented nation overall.[15][16] Regardless of various rankings of the Chinese universities, the Ministry of Education of China does not advocate, support or recognize any ranking published by other institutions.[17]

In 2014, the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People's Republic of China issued guidance on strengthening ideological education in colleges and universities.[18][19] In 2015, a tertiary education development initiative called Double First-Class Construction designed by the central government of the People's Republic of China was launched, which aims to comprehensively develop elite Chinese universities into world-class institutions by improving their faculty departments to world-class level by the end of 2050. The full list of the plan was published in September 2017, which includes 140 universities being approved as the Double First-Class Universities, representing the top 5% of the total 3,012 universities and colleges in China.[20][21]

  1. ^ "China has over 47 mln higher-education students in 2023 - Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China". en.moe.gov.cn. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Li, Siyu (August 24, 2020). ""Chinese-style" meritocracy? Gaokao, the national college entrance examination in China". L'Année sociologique (in French). 70 (2): 469–494. doi:10.3917/anso.202.0469. ISSN 0066-2399.
  3. ^ Gan, Nectar (June 7, 2024). "Record 13 million to sit 'world's toughest' college entrance exam". CNN. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  4. ^ "Study a Degree in China in English in 2024". China Admissions. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  5. ^ Ministry of Education (January 22, 2019). "普通高等学校本科专业目录－国务院国有资产监督管理委员会". State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Archived from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  6. ^ National People's Congress (August 28, 2004). "中华人民共和国学位条例 - 中华人民共和国教育部政府门户网站". Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  7. ^ "学位授予和人才培养学科目录（2018年4月更新） - 中华人民共和国教育部政府门户网站". Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  8. ^ "研究生教育学科专业目录（2022年）" (PDF). Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. September 14, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  9. ^ Sheehy, Kelsey (October 8, 2013). "Explore the World's Top Universities". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Asia is among the fastest growing destinations for international students, and foreign enrollment at universities in Indonesia and South Korea have more than doubled since 2005, the agency reports. China continues to be the most popular destination in the region, though, ranking third among countries that host the most international students, IIE reports.
  10. ^ "China tops US and UK as destination for anglophone African students". Victoria Breeze, The Conversation. June 27, 2017. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  11. ^ "China's 2020 target: reshaping global mobility flows". EAIE. January 27, 2020. Archived from the original on October 10, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  12. ^ magazine, Jeff Tollefson, Nature. "China Declared World's Largest Producer of Scientific Articles". Scientific American. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Tollefson, Jeff (January 18, 2018). "China declared world's largest producer of scientific articles". Nature. 553 (7689): 390. Bibcode:2018Natur.553..390T. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-00927-4.
  14. ^ "Country Analysis | Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities 2023". research.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  15. ^ "QS University Rankings: BRICS 2019". Top Universities. October 2, 2018. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  16. ^ "Emerging Economies". Times Higher Education (THE). January 22, 2020. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Fu, Daniel (June 22, 2024). "Xi Jinping's Ideologization of the Chinese Academy". The Diplomat. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  19. ^ ""Opinions Concerning Further Strengthening and Improving Propaganda and Ideology Work in Higher Education Under New Circumstances"". DigiChina. Stanford University. January 19, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  20. ^ "全国高等学校名单 - 中华人民共和国教育部政府门户网站". www.moe.gov.cn. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  21. ^ "教育部 财政部 国家发展改革委关于公布世界一流大学和一流学科建设高校及建设学科名单的通知 - 中华人民共和国教育部政府门户网站". www.moe.gov.cn. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2021.