Higher education in China is the largest in the world.[1] By the end of 2021, there were over 3,000 colleges and universities, with over 44.3 million students enrolled in mainland China and 240 million Chinese citizens having received high education.[2][3] The system includes Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees, as well as non-degree programs, and is also open to foreign students.
The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China is the government authority for all matters pertaining to education and language. The ministry notes that higher education in China has played a significant part in economic growth, scientific progress and social development in the country "by bringing up large scale of advanced talents and experts for the construction of socialist modernization."[4]
China is also a major destination for international students, being the most popular country in Asia for international students,[5] the leading destination globally for Anglophone African students,[6] and the second most popular in the world.[7] In 2017, China surpassed the U.S. with the highest number of scientific publications.[8][9] 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).[10] 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.[11][12] 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.[13]
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.[14][15][16][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]
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.
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