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China Entrance Examinations and Admission Criteria
National examinations to select students for higher education
(and positions of leadership) were an important part of China's
culture, and, traditionally, entrance to a higher education
institution was considered prestigious. Although the examination
system for admission to colleges and universities has undergone
many changes since the Cultural Revolution, it remains the basis
for recruiting academically able students. When higher education
institutions were reopened in early 1970s, candidates for entrance
examinations had to be senior-middle-school graduates or the
equivalent, generally below twenty-six years of age. Work
experience requirements were eliminated, but workers and staff
members needed permission from their enterprises to take the
examinations.
Each provincial-level unit was assigned a quota of students to
be admitted to key universities, a second quota of students for
regular universities within that administrative division, and a
third quota of students from other provinces, autonomous regions,
and special municipalities who would be admitted to institutions
operated at the provincial level. Provincial-level administrative
units selected students with outstanding records to take the
examinations. Additionally, preselection examinations were
organized by the provinces, autonomous regions, and special
municipalities for potential students (from three to five times the
number of places allotted). These candidates were actively
encouraged to take the examination to ensure that a sufficient
number of good applicants would be available. Cadres with at least
two years of work experience were recruited for selected
departments in a small number of universities on an experimental
basis. Preferential admission treatment (in spite of lower test
scores) was given to minority candidates, students from
disadvantaged areas, and those who agreed in advance to work in
less developed regions after graduation.
In December 1977, when uniform national examinations were
reinstated, 5.7 million students took the examinations, although
university placement was available for only the 278,000 applicants
with the highest scores. In July 1984, about 1.6 million candidates
(30,000 fewer than in 1983) took the entrance examinations for the
430,000 places in China's more than 900 colleges and universities.
Of the 1.6 million examinees, more than 1 million took the test for
placement in science and engineering colleges; 415,000 for places
in liberal arts colleges; 88,000 for placement in foreign language
institutions; and 15,000 for placement in sports universities and
schools. More than 100,000 of the candidates were from national
minority groups. A year later, there were approximately 1.8 million
students taking the three day college entrance examination to
compete for 560,000 places. Liberal arts candidates were tested on
politics, Chinese, mathematics, foreign languages, history, and
geography. Science and engineering candidates were tested on
politics, Chinese, mathematics, chemistry, and biology. Entrance
examinations also were given in 1985 for professional and technical
schools, which sought to enroll 550,000 new students.
Other innovations in enrollment practices, included allowing
colleges and universities to admit students with good academic
records but relatively low entrance-examination scores. Some
colleges were allowed to try an experimental student recommendation
system--fixed at 2 percent of the total enrollment for regular
colleges and 5 percent for teachers' colleges--instead of the
traditional entrance examination. A minimum national examination
score was established for admission to specific departments at
specially designated colleges and universities, and the minimum
score for admission to other universities was set by provinciallevel authorities. Key universities established separate classes
for minorities. When several applicants attained the minimum test
score, the school had the option of making a selection, a policy
that gave university faculty and administrators a certain amount of
discretion but still protected admission according to academic
ability.
In addition to the written examination, university applicants
had to pass a physical examination and a political screening. Less
than 2 percent of the students who passed the written test were
eliminated for reasons of poor health. The number disqualified for
political reasons was known, but publicly the party maintained that
the number was very small and that it sought to ensure that only
the most able students actually entered colleges and universities.
By 1985 the number of institutions of higher learning had again
increased--to slightly more than 1,000. The State Education
Commission
and the Ministry of Finance issued a joint declaration for
nationwide unified enrollment of adult students--not the regular
secondary-school graduates but the members of the work force who
qualified for admission by taking a test. The State Education
Commission established unified questions and time and evaluation
criteria for the test and authorized provinces, autonomous regions,
and special municipalities to administer the test, grade the papers
in a uniform manner, and determine the minimum points required for
admission. The various schools were to enroll students according to
the results. Adult students needed to have the educational
equivalent of senior-middle- school graduates, and those applying
for release or partial release from work to study were to be under
forty years of age. Staff members and workers were to apply to
study job-related subjects with review by and approval of their
respective work units. If employers paid for the college courses,
the workers had to take entrance examinations. In 1985 colleges
enrolled 33,000 employees from various enterprises and companies,
approximately 6 percent of the total college enrollment.
In 1985 state quotas for university places were set, allowing
both for students sponsored by institutions and for those paying
their own expenses. This policy was a change from the previous
system in which all students were enrolled according to guidelines
established in Beijing. All students except those at teachers'
colleges, those who had financial difficulties, and those who were
to work under adverse conditions after graduation had to pay for
their own tuition, accommodations, and miscellaneous expenses.
Data as of July 1987
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