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2019 International Conference on Education, Management, Economics and Humanities (ICEMEH 2019) ISBN: 978-1-60595-616-9 Higher Education Resources Structure and Allocation in Hunan Province: Regional Imbalance and Improvement Bi-gang HONG School of Economics and Management, Shaoyang University, Shaoyang, China Keywords: Higher education resource, Allocation, Regional imbalance, Hunan, Improvement. Abstract. As an institutional arrangement, higher education resource was centrally administered by the government under the planned economic system. In response to the needs of socialist market economy development, higher education resource allocation should be based on the principles of equity and efficiency. The higher education in Hunan Province has mage great progress these years, but problems such as regional imbalance, gaps between colleges and universities, repeated construction of disciplines, disorderly competition between colleges, and students’ lack of learning enthusiasm and competition still exist. The tertiary structure, the admission and transfer stimulations of CA Master Plan provide some options. Introduction Research shows that education has a strong positive correlation with economic growth and social progress. Hunan is a relatively strong province with good education tradition which has supported its position in the contemporary and modern history in China. Yet many problems have appeared with the development of market economy. In the new era of building a moderately well-off society in all-round way, the education management system should be innovated, in which aspect California, USA can give us some reference. Development Scale of Higher Education in Hunan Since the reform and opening up in China 40 years ago, universities and colleges in Hunan Province have experienced a tortuous development stage from small to large and from weak to strong, along with the rapid development of the higher education in the whole country. By 2017, the number of higher education institutions (HEIs) had amounted to 163, including 124 Regular HEIs, 12 Adults HEIs and 27 Non-government HEIs. Among the Regular HEIs,51 are offering degree programs, and 73 are Higher Vocational Colleges. Table 1.1 shows that both the enrolment and full-time teachers of HEIs in Hunan Province have steadily increased these years from 2013-2017. The number of postgraduates, regular HEIs graduates, regular HEIs graduates and full-time teachers in 2017 have increased by 11%,13%, 15.6% and 9.5% respectively from 2013. It can be said that the development of Hunan higher education can fairly meet the needs of the children for schooling in terms of quantity and scale in the whole. Table 1. Number of HEIs, Postgraduates, Regular HEIs Graduates, Regular HEIs Enrolment and Full-time Teachers in HEIs in Hunan Province (2013-2017). Item Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of HEIs Postgraduate Regular HEIs Regular HEIs Full-time Students Graduates Enrollment Teachers 2013 147 17,236 294,355 1100,770 64,845 2014 149 18,914 295,911 1136,302 65,714 2015 149 18,526 300,459 1180,643 67,341 2016 164 18,813 316,504 1225,016 69,477 2017 163 19,126 332,792 1273,208 71,006 Source: Based on data from the website of the Ministry of Education of the PRC 33 The Hierarchical Structure of Universities and Colleges in Hunan Province The hierarchical structure here refers to the progressive education form of higher education from college to undergraduate, master, doctor, and postdoctoral, which mainly reflects the degree and level of education in a specific area. And the center of gravity of the hierarchy should be in a process of corresponding upward shift with the regional economic and social development level (See Table 1.2). Table 2. Hierarchical Structure of Hunan Higher Education Institutions. Type Number Name Traits Research 2 Central South University “985” University Having Graduate University Hunan University School with Top Researching Ability Research-based 5 Hunan Normal University “211”University or Old-brand key Teaching Xiangtan University, etc. University with Good Researching Ability Teaching-based 5 University of Science and Technology Provincial Key or Qusai-key Research of Hunan University with a few Postgraduates Jishou University, etc. Regular 19 Hunan University off Commerce, Mainly for Graduates Teaching, Teaching Shaoyang University, etc. with a Few Postgraduates Vocational 78 Loudi Vocational Technical College, Developing Skillful & Versatile Training Hunan Mass Media Vocational Talents Technical College, etc. Resources Allocation of Higher Education in Hunan Province and Problems The Regional Agglomeration of Higher Education Resources is Not Conducive to the Harmonious Development of Provincial Economy Hunan has made brilliant achievements in its higher education, and at the same time some outstanding problems still exist. The main manifestations include unbalanced regional agglomeration of higher education resources and the discordant disciplinary structure with the development of local economy. According to the conditions of the geographical position, economic development and higher education resources distribution, Hunan can be divided into four areas: Jingguang Line Area, includingChangsha, Zhuzhou, Xiangtanand Hengyang; Xiangbei Area,including Yueyang, Changde and Yiyang; Xiangxinan Area, including Chenzhou, Yongzhou, Shaoyang and Loudi;Daxiangxi Area, including Huaihua, Zhangjiajie and Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. By 2017, there are 124 universities and colleges in Hunan(including the independent institutes). Specifically, Changsha has 57, Xiangtan has 13, Zhuzhou has 10, and Hengyang has 10, too, so the above four cities owe 90 colleges and universities, accounting for 73% of the total of the province. there are only 7 universities, including Huaihua Zhangjiajie Meanwhile, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, Zhangjiajie and Huaihua all together have only 7, accounting for 5.7% of the proportion(See Table 3). Table 3. Geographical Distribution of Hunan Higher Education Resources (2017). Area Distrct Number Percentage Jingguang Line Area Changsha,zhuzhou,Xiangtan,Hengyang 90 73 North Hunan Area Yiyang,Yueyang,Changde 16 13 Southwest Hunan Area Loudi,Shaoyang,Youzhou,Chenzhou 11 8.3 Daxiangxi Area Zhangjiajie,Xiangxi,Huaihua 7 5.7 Source: Based on data from the website of the Education Department of Hunan Province The serious geographical deviation of HEIs puts Daxiangxi and Xiangxinan areas in a very unfavorable position of economic development without the strong support of university talent intelligence resources, and the unbalanced development has seriously affected the sustainable development of the local economy(See Figure 1). According to the official statistics of 2017, GDP in Hunan totaled 36397.42 billion yuan, an increase of 8.0%. Among the total amount, Jingguang Line Area, North Hunan Area , Southwest 34 Hunan Area and Daxiangxi Area contributed 50.39%,22.4%,19.3% and 7.2% respectively, which reflected the positive correlation between education and economy to some extent.In this sense, improving the allocation of higher education resources is conducive to narrowing the regional economic gap and building a harmonious society. Figure 1. Regional distribution of human higher education. Source: Based on data from the website of the Education Department of Hunan Province Mismatch between Discipline Subject Structure and Regional Economic Development Since the reform and opening up, higher education in Hunan Province has been a strong force providing support for the economic and social development of Hunan and the "Science and Education Promoting Hunan project". However, the professional settings of the colleges and universities in Hunan are not in concert and harmony withthe economic structure. Hunan is a large agricultural province, where a large number of agricultural talents are needed for the development of modern agriculture. But there is only one comprehensive agricultureuniversity in Hunan. In addition, there are only a handful of majors which are closely related to agriculture in other colleges and universities, which is not commensurate with the status of Hunan as a big agricultural province(See Table 4). Table 4. Student Enrollment, New Student Enrollment and Graduates in 2014 Unit: ten thousand. Major Student Enrollment New Enrollment Graduates Total 66.6305 16.8880 15.1349 Philosophy 0.0293 0.0095 0.0075 Economics 3.8951 0.8913 0.8680 Law 2.1283 0.5862 0.4505 Education 2.3123 0.6334 0.5060 Literature 6.5731 1.6657 1.6192 History 0.1811 0.0543 0.0411 Science 3.9966 1.1013 0.9094 Engineering 22.0796 5.6406 5.0960 Agriculture 0.9256 0.2661 0.2246 Medicine 6.2623 1.3497 1.3268 Management 11.8613 3.0048 2.6747 Sources: Based on Hunan Statistics Yearbook 2015, Hunan Statistics Bureau Website. 35 The development of agriculture science has shrunk. In 2015, only 2,661 new students were enrolled, accounting for 1.57%,2,246 graduated, accounting for 1.48%,and the school enrollment was 9,256, accounting for 1.39%. It is not consistent with the demand for a large number of talents in the new rural construction process. Humanities and social science of philosophy and history development is relatively slow. Ninety-five students were enrolled in philosophy in 2015 and 75 graduated, accounted for 0.056% and 0.049%respectively ; history enrollment and graduates accounted for 0.32% and 0.27% respectively. This is obviously not conducive to the development of Humanities in colleges and universities, but also not conducive to the cultivation