In Depth: China’s ‘Unprecedented’ Plan to Reengineer Its Universities
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Admissions officers answer questions from students and parents on June 22 at a college fair in Jinhua, East China’s Zhejiang province. Photo: VCG
Wang Nan, a university instructor, learned in April that her academic department was slated for elimination.
Her province had issued a directive for all its universities to undertake a “great transformation in three years.” The order required each one to cull 40% of their academic programs, specifically targeting those unrelated to the province’s key industries. At her science and technology-focused university, that meant 15 majors — including international Chinese language education and international trade, which suffered from weaker faculty and poorer job prospects — were cut in a single stroke.
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- China is undertaking a historic restructuring of university academic programs, cutting ~40% of majors unrelated to strategic industries and adding new programs in areas like foundational science and national demand; over 1,400 programs were cut in 2024, and nearly 28,000 adjusted since 2014 (90% after 2019).
- Faculty and students face disruption and uncertainty, with many reassigned, retrained, or forced to transfer, as job prospects drive decisions on which programs survive.
- Experts warn that central planning and short-term employment metrics risk homogenization and may hinder genuine academic innovation or interdisciplinary development.
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Who’s Who
- Caixin Media
- Caixin Media is a Chinese media group. Chen Jia is an intern at Caixin Media, and Lu Zhenhua is listed as the contact editor for the article where this information is provided.
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What Happened When
- 1950s：
- First major realignment of Chinese higher education to follow the Soviet model.
- Late 1990s：
- Second transformation amid market reforms and enrollment expansion.
- 2012：
- 18th Party Congress occurred; also marks the start of the third major higher education reform.
- 2014 to 2024：
- Huazhong University study found nearly 28,000 university programs were adjusted in this decade.
- Since 2018：
- Xi’an University of Technology added 11 new majors and cut 11 others.
- Between 2019 and 2024：
- Almost 90% of university program cancellations in the previous decade occurred in this period.
- 2020 to 2024：
- Top five most-cut undergraduate majors identified by MyCOS.
- 2022：
- China’s higher education gross enrollment rate reached 59.6%.
- 2023：
- Ministry of Education issued reform plan targeting 20% program adjustment by 2025.
- 2024：
- 1,428 university program offerings eliminated (per Ministry of Education).
- 2024：
- Universities added 1,673 programs and eliminated 1,670 others (per Wu Yan).
- July 2024：
- Politburo meeting called for development of 'low-altitude economy', leading to fast-tracked university program approvals in this field.
- April 2025：
- Wang Nan learned her academic department was slated for elimination.
- 2025：
- 29 new undergraduate majors were added to the national catalog.
- 2025：
- Meng Ying and colleagues at Hunan vocational college were reassigned after preschool education program was canceled.
- 2025：
- Art management major discontinued at the Communication University of China.
- As of 2025：
- Broadcast and television majors at a public university in northeast China have been suspended for years, but not yet officially eliminated.
- August 2025：
- Ministry of Education announced the target of 20% program adjustment had been met and launched new action plan for 2025-2027.
- September 2025：
- Wu Yan, vice minister of education, gave a press conference on the structural adjustment.
- Fall 2025：
- Wang Nan's department stopped accepting new students.
- Fall 2025：
- First enrollment in low-altitude technology and engineering major as a result of fast-tracking after July 2024 Politburo decision.
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