Chinese Higher Education Enters a New Era

As Chinese society changes, higher education is undergoing major transformations. The university model of the United States and other Western countries exercises a powerful influence.

By Xin-Ran Duan

New trends in Chinese higher education are attracting the attention of global educators. Since the establishment of Western-oriented modern universities at the end of nineteenth century, Chinese higher education has continued to evolve. Over the past two decades, however, tremendous economic development in China has stimulated reforms in higher education that have resulted in some remarkable changes.

The first modern institution, Peiyang University, was founded on October 2, 1895, in Tianjin. The university changed its name to Tianjin University in 1951 and became one of the leading universities in China. Next, Jiaotong University was founded in Shanghai in 1896. In the 1950s, most of this university was moved to Xi'an, an ancient capital city in northwest China, and became Xi'an Jiaotong University; the part of the university remaining in Shanghai was renamed Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Tianjin University celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 1995, followed by Xi'an Jiaotong and Shanghai Jiaotong Universities in 1996. Other leading universities, such as Zhejiang University (1897), Beijing University (1898), and Nanjing University (1902) also recently celebrated their hundredth anniversaries, one after another. These celebrations marked the beginning of a new chapter in Chinese higher education.

For more than half a century, from 1896 to 1949, Chinese higher education progressed according to the Western university model, although Chinese universities suffered heavily in the Resistance War against the Japanese Invasion (1937-45) and in the War of Liberation (1946-49). With the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, however, Chinese higher education cut off links to the Western world and turned, for various political reasons, toward the former Soviet Union's model for universities. A reconstruction of Chinese higher education, involving reorganization of universities and disciplines, took place nationwide in the early 1950s. In this movement, common comprehensive universities were reformed into single disciplinary universities such as universities of literature and arts, universities of engineering, medical colleges, agricultural colleges, railway institutes, and so on.

The well-known "Big Eight Institutes," located in northwest Beijing, was among these reorganized institutions. It included an aeronautical engineering institute, a medical institute, an iron and steel engineering institute, a petroleum institute, a geological institute, an institute of mining technology, a forestry institute, and an institute of agricultural machinery.

Each reorganized university or institute offered many more majors in specific curricula than were available under the Western model. For example, the discipline of mechanical engineering was typically transformed into subdisciplines to permit general mechanical engineering students to major in machine tools, casting, welding, or forging, while thermal power engineering majors could specialize in boilers, turbines, internal combustion engines, compressors, or refrigeration machinery. These far-reaching changes eliminated any real comprehensive university in China for nearly five decades. The current reorganization of higher education, initiated in the late 1990s, involves a return to a truly comprehensive university.

Since China adopted its open-door policy approximately twenty-five years ago, Chinese higher education has begun once again to draw closer to the advanced Western world. China's decision to send scholars and students to the United States at the end of the 1970s, after thirty years of hostility between the two countries, marked a dramatic turning point in the nation's educational history. Today, about 50,000 Chinese students are studying in the United States, accounting for 10 percent of the total international students in the country. More Chinese students have gone to other countries to study. According to statistics from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), China sends more students than any other country to study abroad. In the other direction, more students from the United States and elsewhere are going to China to study language, culture, history, traditional Chinese medicine, science, engineering, and other fields. The increasing number of international students worldwide demonstrates a relatively quick change in the integration of global education.

In 1998, the Chinese government announced that it would build some Chinese universities into world-class institutions. To achieve that goal, the government promised to increase the educational allocation in the national budget by 1 percent a year for each of the five years following 1998. When Chinese president Jiang Zemin attended the hundredth anniversary ceremony at Beijing University in 1998 and the ninetieth anniversary ceremony at Tsinghua University in 2001, he emphasized this ambitious goal of advancing several of China's higher education institutions into the top tier of universities worldwide in the next several decades. In the meantime, China has received educational aid from UNESCO and many other international organizations and sources, including the World Bank, which recently loaned China $14.7 billion for educational development.

Noteworthy progress has been achieved, particularly in the merging of colleges and universities. These mergers represent the most dramatic change in higher education since the reorganization of universities in the early 1950s along the Soviet model. In September 1998, Zhejiang University combined three other universities—Hangzhou, Zhejiang Agricultural, and Zhejiang Medical Universities—becoming one of the largest and most comprehensive institutions of higher education in the country. The second largest merger in the country was that of Beijing University and Beijing Medical University. In April 2000, a merger of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an Medical University, and Shaanxi Institute of Finance and Economics (formerly administered by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Health, and the People's Bank of China) was announced as the new Xi'an Jiaotong University. Other mergers include the restructured Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Central South, Fudan, Jilin, Shandong, Sichuan, Southeast, Tongji, Tsinghua, Zhongshan, and Wuhan Universities. Official statistics show that from 1996 to 2000, 387 colleges and universities were merged into 212.

Since these university mergers, the Ministry of Education has reduced from about two hundred to around seventy the number of institutions it operates. In addition, these reconstructed universities have obtained funding for development. For example, the Ministry of Education and the Zhejiang provincial government allocated 1.4 billion yuan ($170 million) between 1998 and 2002 to promote the newly reconstructed Zhejiang University. Other reconstructed leading universities also obtained more money to support their development.

It has been twenty-five years since China resumed the National College Entrance Examination, a milestone in Chinese higher education after the turmoil of the ten-year Cultural Revolution. The first graduates from colleges and universities since the resumption of college entrance examinations have already become key forces in professional fields in China. Today, more Chinese people than ever before have an opportunity to enter higher education. An article in the newspaper China's Education described the 2002 college entrance examination, which began on July 7: "At 9 a.m. on Sunday, 5.27 million students sat quietly in thousands upon thousands of classrooms across China, ready to begin the college entrance examination, which is probably the most important examination they will ever sit."

"I am sure my daughter will do quite well in the exam," said a Mr. Zhou who, like many other Chinese parents, was waiting anxiously outside the school. He said his daughter did not worry about the exams at all, whereas he himself sometimes was still haunted by the nightmare of sitting his examination. "It is not as tough to enter college as twenty years ago because colleges and universities have begun taking in many more . . . students," he recalled, "I think my daughter's generation is much luckier than mine."

Zhou's different attitude toward his college entrance exams and his daughter's can be attributed to changes in China's higher educational system. Official statistics show that 52 percent of Chinese university candidates can get admitted this year, but in 1981 the figure was only 2.4 percent.

A rapid expansion of colleges and universities has reduced the gap between the strong desire for higher education and the limited access to it. According to official figures, the total enrollment for common colleges and universities (government-controlled public institutions) almost doubled in the past three years from 6.43 million in 1998 to 12.14 million in 2001. The total of all colleges and universities reached 1,911 in 2001 (98 more than had existed in 2000).

In the traditional Chinese view, a good education for children is the first priority for a family like Zhou's. Since China adopted its "one family, one child" policy three decades ago, most families have had only a single child. Parents are willing to spend more money and time to help their child get a better education. Most parents hope their child will enter college, and even travel abroad to study. Currently, higher education has become one of the most popular topics for discussion among Chinese families.

In 2001, the Ministry of Education abolished the limitations based on marital status and age for the national college entrance examination. Before this reform, candidates who were older than twenty-five and married could not take the examination. This significant change opened opportunities for adults to enter common colleges and universities. It has been reported that people in their fifties, and even their sixties, have been allowed to take the national college entrance examination, and some have ultimately been admitted to college.

Chinese people still have to compete for the chance to enter a college or a university, and that will not change in the foreseeable future, considering that China has the largest population in the world. Yet it is undeniable that competition for higher education has changed over the past two decades. In the end, the reform of higher education will give more Chinese people the opportunity to enter a college or a university.

Beyond university mergers and enrollment expansion, the most significant specific reforms to China's system of higher education include the appearance of private institutions, the adjustment of institutional governance, the introduction of tuition, and the cancellation of guaranteed job placement for graduates.

Private Institutions

Twenty years ago, China had no private colleges or universities. Since then, the government has encouraged organizations and individuals to build private schools. By 2001, eighty-nine private institutions of higher education had been accredited by the Ministry of Education to offer degrees and diplomas. Shaanxi Province is one of several provinces with outstanding private higher education. The province has twenty-two private colleges and universities, each having more than a thousand students enrolled. Four of these institutions have developed especially good facilities on big campuses.

Compared with government-controlled common colleges and universities, the proportion of private institutions is still quite small. A recent report indicates that a draft on the promotion of nongovernmental education has been submitted for deliberation to the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress. The draft states that private schools should enjoy the same rights as public ones, and experts predict that the future promulgation of the law will serve to enhance private higher education.

Institutional Governance

Like the Chinese economic system, the higher education system was highly centralized for many years. As the country's economy shifts from a centralized to a market model, however, the governance of Chinese higher education is also undergoing adjustment. The Ministry of Education is still the supreme educational administrative body in China. In addition to administering some leading universities, the ministry is responsible for implementing education-related laws, regulations, guidelines, policies, nationwide programs and initiatives, and international educational cooperation and exchange.

The ministry has played an active and decisive role in educational reform. One major change in governance has been the introduction of the "two-level education provision system," in which the central government (Minister of Education) shares responsibility for educational governance with local governments (provincial bureaus of education). The provincial bureaus of education have been assigned greater responsibilities and now directly administer most common universities and colleges. The chief executive officer of a university is the president, who is usually appointed by the government. In the past, appointments were made without public hearings, interviews, or competition among candidates. The introduction of these processes has had a positive effect. For example, more aspiring presidents of Chinese universities hold master's or Ph.D.'s than in the past, and most current presidents have had the opportunity to visit or study in the West. These new presidents have more experience in higher education and a global perspective that helps them better understand China's goals and problems.

Tuition

For four decades following the founding of the People's Republic, Chinese college students did not pay tuition. If a student was admitted into a college or university, the student was guaranteed a "free" higher education. (Actually, the central government paid students' tuition to their institutions.) In the early 1990s, this situation was deemed incompatible with the growth of a market economy, and Chinese colleges and universities began to charge tuition and fees to students. At the beginning of the reform, students paid a small fee, but by the end of the 1990s, all college students had to pay their own tuition. Of course, more scholarships and grants have become available to help students, especially those from low-income and poor families in the countryside.

The Minister of Education and provincial bureaus of education guide the tuition and fee standards. For the 2002 academic year in Beijing, tuition and fees ranged from 4,200 to 6,000 yuan ($525-$750). Tuition plus living expenses represents a considerable amount of money for Chinese families, especially low-income ones. To help pay for college, many students try to get work-study positions on campus or part-time work on weekends or in the summer.

Job Placement

In the past, in return for a free higher education, Chinese university students were willing to take whatever jobs the government assigned to them upon graduation. Graduates could not choose their place of work or their jobs. After several years of practice and experimentation, however, all Chinese college graduates must now find their own employment. As in the United States, representatives from different companies visit campuses to interview graduates, and many job fairs are available for these graduates. In the old system, all graduates received the same starting salary no matter what they had majored in, or the kind of work the government assigned to them. Now, salaries of new graduates vary depending on the classification of their job, the region in which they work, and the offerings of individual employers. Many graduates even seek jobs with better salaries and benefits in branches of top foreign companies in China.

Together, these reforms have led to innovations in campus life, use of technology, institutional rankings, and other areas. Below I highlight some of these changes.

Campus Life

Twenty years ago, campus life in China was dull compared with the varied and rich campus life Chinese college students enjoy today. Students now have weekends off, and they spend more time on sports and participate in other activities, such as clubs, competitions, performances, and festivals. Recently, Chinese national college basketball and soccer games, imitating American collegiate sports, have aroused the interest of students. The typical college student twenty years ago might have been described as a "bookworm." Today's Chinese college students are different: they are more cosmopolitan and have many interests.

Facilities have improved markedly. Many colleges and universities have built new classrooms, libraries, computer labs, auditoriums, gyms, and indoor swimming pools, and have developed attractive campus landscapes. Twenty years ago, six to eight students typically shared a standard single dormitory room. Conditions were simple and poor. Today in some leading universities, three students share one standard dormitory unit, which has a bathroom, a television, a telephone, and Internet-equipped computers.

Technology

Many colleges and universities have developed Internet-based distance education courses and even online degree curricula. Most colleges and universities have launched their own Web sites. The Ministry of Education published its home page several years ago, and the newspaper China's Education is also now published online. The China Education and Research Network (CERNET) and other education networks were created several years ago to quickly disseminate education-related news, facts, policies, and information, and to encourage discussion. I can access the CERNET Web site from the United States to do research. In 2001, 610 million visitors viewed the site, and in 2002, the number of hits reached 1.35 billion. In some provinces, college and university applicants and their parents can now obtain the applicant's college entrance exam scores through the Internet. In engineering disciplines, students can learn and use advanced software for computer-aided design. The Internet is tremendously popular with Chinese students.

Institutional Ranking
Chinese institutions of higher education were not ranked until 1987. In the past fifteen years, however, over ten different reports that rank institutions have become available, some of them through the Internet. The reports list the top hundred universities and colleges in China, the fifty top graduate schools, and so on. The Ministry of Education recently issued a list of subjects and majors that leading universities nationwide offer.

Some people have criticized the reports' lack of information about topics such as institutional budgets and student performance. Others regret the failure to cite the sources of the information included or the criteria used to determine the rankings. However, institutional rankings are new and fresh to Chinese students. The rankings help them choose the right college for them and inspire institutions to improve educational quality and excellence. As a result, Chinese students and educators have welcomed these new rankings.

Other Developments

|In the reform of higher education, the government has encouraged many new ideas and initiatives. For example, some colleges and universities have begun to use original textbooks in English from the United States and England. Others have plans to add a summer session to the traditional two-semester system. In some areas, local colleges and universities cooperate with each other to allow students to take credit-bearing courses at other campuses. Other colleges and universities have created multiple disciplinary degree curricula; for example, students can now earn an engineering degree and a business degree in four years. And several universities now offer master's degrees in business administration and public administration based on the standards and curricula of famous American universities.

I was a faculty member at Lanzhou Jiaotong University for several years beginning in 1979, so I have had the opportunity to observe firsthand the recent evolution of Chinese higher education. I am excited about its development and would, in closing, like to make some general remarks and offer a few suggestions.

First, given China's goal of building some universities into world-class institutions, it would be wise to pay more attention to strengthening the foundation of Chinese higher education. Traditionally, Chinese universities have stressed engineering and science. Many Chinese students are strong in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, but weaker in social and human studies. Study in social sciences and the humanities has been limited for years. Some universities have just begun to develop programs in these areas, but more need to follow their example. Strategically, strengthening social sciences and humanities will help Chinese students acquire a solid foundation of knowledge. The continuing development of comprehensive universities should allow them to extend their knowledge base in multiple disciplines and fields. In addition, Chinese universities should more thoroughly promote an active and creative spirit in students.

Second, and more important, entering the ranks of the world's top universities requires creating a sound academic atmosphere on campus. Academic freedom should be more highly valued and more actively fostered. It is the consensus of many global educators that academic freedom must always be a core value of higher education. Strong backing for academic freedom would attract more international students to top Chinese universities. It would also attract more professors and experts from other countries to teach or assume administrative positions at leading Chinese universities.

Third, I suggest adding a two-year associate's degree to the existing academic system that now offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Such a system would more closely reflect global educational standards and enhance adult education, continuing education, and vocational education.

In China, pre-bachelor's-degree higher education is conducted in junior, technical, or community colleges, but graduates of these two- or three-year colleges cannot obtain a degree. Every year, thousands graduate from these colleges and become secretaries, technicians, nurses, or professionals in various fields. Business and industry welcome these graduates, particularly in rural areas. The fact that they do not have degrees, however, tends to diminish their educational attainment and represents a waste of human resources.

An expansion of the two- to three-year pre-bachelor's system is also needed to meet the demands of economic development in China. There are too few of these colleges in proportion to China's huge population. In addition, a transfer system should be created to help transfer associate's degrees to bachelor's programs at the university level.

Strategically, a system consisting of two- to three-year colleges and four-year universities that offered degrees ranging from associate's to doctoral degrees would help integrate the Chinese colleges and universities and greatly increase access to higher education.

Since the 1980s, China has made some serious changes in its higher education system. From my perspective—that of an educator with experience in the Chinese and the American educational systems-the changes in China are positive and important. They benefit the Chinese people, giving them more opportunities to attend a college or university, and they help facilitate global exchange and cooperation. I believe that China can expedite its goal of developing world-class institutions by expanding its pre-bachelor's system, adding an associate's degree, and strengthening the foundation of Chinese higher education.

Xin-Ran Duan is professor and division chair of technology at Ivy Tech State College in Columbus, Indiana, where he has taught since 1993. Previously, he taught at Lanzhou Jiaotong University in China. He graduated from Xi'an Jiaotong University and earned graduate degrees in mechanical engineering and higher education administration from the University of Oklahoma and Indiana State University.

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