Colleges in competition for fewer students
Print Edition
CHINESE higher education institutions are facing intense competition as the number of students declines, the national education portal www.eol.cn claimed yesterday.
Its report, just days ahead of gaokao, the national college entrance exam, argues that the crisis demands higher education reform.
The college exam, a standardized test including math, Chinese, English, natural and social sciences, is seen by many parents as the definitive way of assuring their child’s future.
One report puts the number of gaokao candidates this year at 9.39 million, up by 270,000 from last year, following five consecutive years of decline. However, it is estimated that numbers will then fall until around 2020, and, even after that, candidate numbers will never reach previous highs.
The candidate population hit 10.5 million in 2008, fell in 2009 and 2010, then stabilized in recent years.
As the number of applicants decreases, the percentage of applicants admitted to higher education is on the rise. In 2013, the share reached a record high of 76 percent. In the central province of Henan, where the number of gaokao candidates is among the highest, admissions have soared from 42 percent to 78 percent in five years.
As supply and demand dynamics change, students can be more picky about colleges. Gone are the days when universities survived solely on providing diplomas, said Chen Zhiwen, editor-in-chief of www.eol.cn. Schools that are not up to scratch will struggle to survive, Chen said.
Liu Ji’an of the University of Pennsylvania said that for some public universities in China, tuition fees account for 30 to 40 percent of their income and failure to enroll enough students could lead to bankruptcy.
Chen, though, sees the crisis as an opportunity, as universities and colleges will be forced to reposition themselves.
In February, the central government decided to promote vocational education, raising the idea of turning a number of colleges into vocational institutions.
Chen believes this will not only help colleges to secure students, but change the conventional mentality that vocational education is inferior.
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