year
rather than once a year, as was the case in the past.
In 2001, the Ministry of Education announced lowering
the threshold for college entrance examinations: restrictions
relating to marital status and age were lifted. This is
a necessary step for China's higher education to go popular
and represents a shift from an "elitist education"
to a "popular education."
From the
1950s to the 1980s, the state paid tuition for all college
and university students, and government personnel departments
assigned them jobs in a unified way. This posed a heavy
financial burden for the government on one hand and harmed
the vitality of higher education on the other. In addition,
it restricted the mobility of people. This is not compatible
with a market economic system.
From the
mid-1980s, some institutions of higher learning began
reforming the admissions system by enrolling some self-financed
students. For such students with lower entrance examination
marks, payment of some fees is in exchange for admission.
But the resulting double |
|
 standard
in enrollment led to unfair competition for higher education.
From the mid-1990s, institutions of higher learning began
collecting a percentage of tuition from all students on
a trial basis, and by 1997 all new students were required
to pay tuition. At present, tuition paid by a student
accounts for 15-20 percent of the total cost of his or
her higher education. Schools have established a financial
assistance system for poor students. The system covers
mainly scholarships, student loans, work-study fund, special
subsidies and the reduction or exemption of tuition and
miscellaneous expenses.
In the
past, enrollment by a college or university meant sure
employment. All graduates were assigned jobs by the state
and treated as cadres. Now, under the guidance of the
state, graduates choose jobs on their own, and hiring
organizations have the right of choice, too. This has,
to a certain extent, promoted a rational adjustment of
the composition of specialities of institutions of higher
learning, allowing the content of courses to suit the
need of |
