1. Regional Disparity in Higher Education in China The Social Justice Perspective

2. An Co-funding System Replacing Centralized Funding System • 1949-1980s: • Centralized Funding Model • Beginning of 1998s: • Triangular Funding System

3. Consequence of the Shift of Funding System • Local economic development and financial capacity have become crucial factors in determining local higher education development and potential

5. My Question • What is the profound impact of uneven distribution of China’s higher education? • Who benefit the most from this system?

6. A Complex Picture • An Absolute “quantitative” Gain in the Enrolment of Students Across all Regions (Morgan & Wu, 2011) • Ever expanding of Educated workers • But Elite institution like Beijing University, Qinghua University, Fudan University (Shanghai) etc. have hardly expanded their undergraduate enrollment

7. Unequal Recourses • A Concern with the Aggravated Imbalance in the allocation of Higher Educational resources • Ex. National per student budgetary education funding in 2005 is RMB 5,941 • Beijing: RMB 13,841 • Hebei: RMB 3,018

9. What is more? • Unequal Opportunity

10. More than 50% of Freshmen Quota Given to Local Students

11. Elite Universities Clustered in Developed Regions • Ex. Beijing University • Enrolment rate by Provinces to Beijing University (2012) • Anhui: 7826: 1 • Beijing: 190: 1

12. Local Students and Parents Opinions: • Serve the local population because the Higher Education Institutions are by and large fed by the local tax payers(funding issue again) • A Unconsolidated Conflicts Between Financial Constrain and The Equity Ideology In Higher Education

13. Possible Solutions? • A Professor Proposed an American Holistic Admission to solve the regional inequality problem • My opinion: • 1. Holistic Admission will not work in China • 2. A reconsideration of funding systems • Strengthening the design and administration in central government fund • Strengthening the universities’ financial sustainability • Promote non-government education to encourage social contribution to higher education

14. Reference • MORGAN, John. WU, Bin (Eds.), Higher Education Reform in China: Beyond the Expansion. Routledge, China Policy Series. 2011. • Wei, B. (2012). Regional Disparities in the Allocation of China’s Higher Education Resources from the Perspective of Equity. Chinese Education and Society, 45(1), 31–41. • 北京考生上北大的比例是190:1 网友调侃投胎是艺术。羊城晚报。2012.12.17 http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2012-12/27/c_114181295.htm