The Links Between Higher Education Expansion, Intakes, and Funding in China

Zhao, Jiayi

Abstract

This chapter discusses expansion of higher education (HE) in China and documents some of the ways in which regional inequalities in the quantity and quality of HE provision have been exasperated as a result. As the author notes, in less than three decades China has shifted from an elite to a mass to a universal system of HE, driven by substantial increases in public funding for HE alongside a drive to create a distinctive tier of world-class universities. Utilising official statistics at both the national and regional levels relating to the number of HE institutions, students, and staff over time, together with data on the financial resources available to institutions, the chapter demonstrates that HE expansion in China has been highly geographically uneven, with poorer provinces in the west of China benefitted much less from government investment in the tertiary sector than the richer provinces in east. The chapter presents evidence from secondary data resources obtained from official government statistical release documents and analysing disparities of resources allocation and enrolments rates in three selected regions of China.

Citation

Zhao, J. (2024). The Links Between Higher Education Expansion, Intakes, and Funding in China. In V. Boliver, & N. Siddiqui (Eds.), Researching Social Inequalities in Higher Education: Access, Diversity and Inclusion (44-62). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003452430-5

• Online Publication Date: Sep 10, 2024
• Publication Date: Sep 10, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 15, 2024
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 44-62
• Book Title: Researching Social Inequalities in Higher Education: Access, Diversity and Inclusion
• Chapter Number: 4
• ISBN: 9781003452430
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003452430-5
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2756178