Spending on higher education went up to 4% of GDP last year which is a phenomenal rise over the 1% invested in 1998.
China today has the largest higher education system in the world (it awards more university degrees than India and the US combined).
Enrollment has more than doubled between 1999 and 2006, from 10 to 21%. Has quality been sacrificed for quantity? On the figures the answer appears to be no.
The Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2007 has 10 Chinese institutions in the top 100:
Three for technology (Tsinghua University, Peking University, University of Science and Technology of China)
Two for arts and humanities (Peking University, Fudan University)
One for life sciences and biomedicine (Peking University)
Two for natural sciences (Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Science and Technology of China)
Two for social sciences (Peking University, Tsinghua University).
Yes, there have been criticisms suggesting that they have become less places of higher learning and more like businesses. The figures do not support that argument. And tens of thousands of foreign students are flocking to study in China. That does not sound like a failure in education.
Source: NewIndPress on Sunday