Chinese Universities and the Market for Ideas

This paper examines China’s ongoing revolution in higher education. On the bright side, Chinese higher education has enjoyed four decades of remarkable expansion, as measured by college enrollment, post-graduate training, research capacities and various global rankings. In 2007, China’s higher education has become the largest in the world in terms of student enrollment. Yet, after decades of economic liberalization and marketization, Chinese higher education is one of the few areas that remain monopolized by the state. Despite extraordinary progresses Chinese universities have recently made, they have been repeatedly criticized by many insiders (university presidents, college deans, professors, as well as students and their parents) for the lack of academic freedom. It remains to be seen whether China’s universities can transform themselves from an institution of higher education to a home of liberal learning and innovation.