FOREWORD Large participation in tertiary education is a common feature in the OECD area and led the OECD Education Committee to undertake a “thematic review” of the first years of tertiary education, the findings and conclusions of which were published in Redefining Tertiary Education in 1998. The importance of the issues addressed in this review and the relevance of its conclusions led China to request a similar exercise within the framework of the OECD-China programme of dialogue and co-operation. The first results of this work were included, under the title “managing the rapid expansion of tertiary education provision”, in the OECD publication China in the World Economy: the Domestic Policy Challenges released in 2002. China and the OECD subsequently decided to continue their co-operation in this area by focusing on two interrelated issues: how to assure both the financing and the quality of higher education in a context of increased participation. These are indeed some of the most daunting challenges facing China as well as OECD member countries. An unprecedented expansion in opportunities for higher education took place in China in the 1990s. With it, however, have come some major questions of policy and practice, such as how to balance expansion and quality, how to properly share administrative authority, how to regulate private initiatives, and what is fair and feasible in the sharing of cost between government, institutions, individuals and other organisations. This publication presents the results of an in depth study of these issues, based on well established OECD methods of work involving fact-finding missions and peer to peer dialogue. It will be further discussed at an OECD-China seminar in Beijing in April 2004. The document includes a thorough assessment, based on ten analytical criteria, of the Chinese higher education reform programme, and a discussion of quality management policies and practices in Chinese higher education. It also presents a series of forward looking and concrete policy alternatives for consideration by Chinese policy-makers as higher education reforms proceed over the next decade. The document is not only intended to serve the needs of policy-makers in China. It is hoped that the wealth of analysis and information produced by this joint China-OECD project can also help others learn from the impressive experience of China in the last quarter of the century and contribute to improving higher education in other countries including OECD countries. This review was carried out within the framework of the China Programme of the OECD Centre for Co-operation with Non-Members (CCNM) and was supported through grants from the British Council; the Federal Office for Education and Science, Switzerland; the Department for Education and Skills, United Kingdom; with additional support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Austria. Members of the OECD study team were: Douglas Windham (Rapporteur), Emeritus Distinguished Service Professor, University at Albany, State University of New York; Norman Roderick Darroch Begg, former Secretary of the University of Aberdeen, former Director of Alumni Relations, former Chairman of the Heads of University Management and Administration Network in Europe (HUMANE) and the European Association for Institutional Research (EAIR); Lichia Sanner-Yiu, Co-founder and President of the Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development (CSEND) in Geneva, visiting faculty member at Columbia University, St. Gallen University and National Chengchi University; and Ian Whitman (OECD Secretariat). The China team was headed by Mr. Zhang Li, Director of the National Centre for Education Development Research; Mr. Fan Wenyao, Deputy Director of the National Centre for Education CCNM/EDU(2003)2 Development Research; and Ms. Yang Xiuwen, research specialist of the National Centre for Education Development Research This report is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General. Eric Burgeat Director Centre for Co-operation with Non-Members 3 CCNM/EDU(2003)2 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD.................................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 7 The Chinese Context and the OECD Review.......................................................................................... 8 PART ONE: ANALYSIS OF CHINA’S HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM PROGRAMME ................. 13 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 13 Appropriate political foundation and support ........................................................................................... 14 Equity in access, attainment, and achievement ......................................................................................... 15 Flexibility in planning and implementation .............................................................................................. 15 Support for an interactive planning model................................................................................................ 16 Inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral co-ordination .......................................................................................... 16 Development of a regional, national, and international emphasis............................................................. 16 Affordability.............................................................................................................................................. 17 Sustainability............................................................................................................................................. 17 Efficiency .................................................................................................................................................. 18 Encouragement of supplementary resource mobilisation.......................................................................... 18 PART TWO: QUALITY MANAGEMENT WITHIN CHINESE HIGHER EDUCATION...................... 19 Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 19 Current Situation ....................................................................................................................................... 19 Structural reform.................................................................................................................................... 19 Financial reform .................................................................................................................................... 20 The role of social sector and foreign participants.................................................................................. 21 Quality effects of the financial self-responsibility system.....................................................................22 Existing system-wide quality management instruments and practice ................................................... 24 Summary and Conclusions........................................................................................................................ 29 PART THREE: THE “COST” OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE RATIONALE FOR ITS SUPPORT31 Clarification of the Terminology of Higher Educational Finance............................................................. 31 Equity..................................................................................................................................................... 32 Effectiveness.......................................................................................................................................... 32 Efficiency............................................................................................................................................... 33 Key Terms in Higher Education Finance and Management.................................................................. 34 The Rationale for Shared Government – Private Financing of Higher Education in China ..................... 34 Government Responsibilities for Private Higher Education ..................................................................... 36 China’s Tuition and Loan Policies for Higher Education ......................................................................... 38 The present situation.............................................................................................................................. 38 Alternative methods of funding higher education .................................................................................39 Revenue Enhancement for Institutions of Higher Education.................................................................... 41 Non-degree programmes ....................................................................................................................... 41 Research programmes............................................................................................................................ 41 Technology transfer............................................................................................................................... 42 5 CCNM/EDU(2003)2 Facilities rental .....................................................................................................................................