Chinese Higher Education at the Turn of the Century : Observations from Field Trips at South-East Provinces in 2004

Since the initiation of Socialist Market policies, Chinese higher education steadily expanded its enrollment. The growth was accelerated at the end of the 1990s under a shift of governmental policy geared for achievement of mass higher education in the early years of the 21st Century. The radical shift was corresponded with dramatic changes at the institutional level with ambitious investments in infrastructure and new course designs. What are the causes of the changes? How higher education institutions have changed around the turn of the century? What are the main problems behind the changes? This report examine these questions based on the data and interviews collected through field trips at Fujian, Zhejiang and Anhui Provinces of Southeast China in early summer of 2004