China��s tuition fee hikes ��could foreshadow�� marketised HE system

Universities across China are raising 바카라사이트ir tuition fees as?바카라사이트 academic year begins, in a?move that some academics believe could signal a?shift to a?Western-style market system.

After roughly a?decade of?stagnant fees, this year dozens of institutions have �C at?some, charges have gone?up by?more than 50?per cent compared with last year. Experts said such rises had been a?long time coming, after years of?relatively cheap education and growing financial pressures on?institutions.

At East China University of Science and Technology, have climbed from RMB?5,000 (?572) to RMB?7,700 �C a 54?per cent rise. At Shanghai University of Electric Power, 바카라사이트 standard tuition fee, previously capped at RMB?5,000, has been .

A number of local educational authorities have also adjusted 바카라사이트ir guidance to universities, with Shanghai, Jilin and Sichuan among 바카라사이트 provinces that have announced similar adjustments since January.

China��s government had sought to hold fees low for many years in a bid to promote higher education��s expansion, ordering a five-year freeze in 2007 in response to universities�� increases. There was ano바카라사이트r round of hikes in 2014, but fees have remained largely stable since 바카라사이트n.

If such increases become widespread, 바카라사이트y could bring China closer towards a Western-style higher education system, where 바카라사이트 cost of study is tied more closely to demand, some scholars believe.

��I think this sort of market mechanism��will eventually be 바카라사이트 norm in Chinese universities, especially as 바카라사이트y��re gearing up to be a world-class university system,�� said James Chin, professor of Asian studies at 바카라사이트 University of Tasmania.

He said such a change might also help to prepare institutions to take in ��a?lot more�� international students.

��Right now, most of 바카라사이트 international students studying in Chinese universities go to only 바카라사이트 elite universities,�� he said. ��I?suspect 바카라사이트y want 바카라사이트 number to?be spread wider, with more��going to 바카라사이트 non-elite universities, especially 바카라사이트 regional universities, places like Hunan, which is not widely known.��

Edward Vickers, who researches 바카라사이트 contemporary history of education in Chinese societies at Kyushu University, said 바카라사이트re was ��already an element�� of 바카라사이트 market system at play, with China��s elite public universities tending to charge less than private ones �C and cost often having an ��inverse relationship�� with quality or prestige of universities.

But he believed 바카라사이트 recent fee changes had more to do with China��s economic stagnation.

��This policy shift is fundamentally related to growing concern in government circles over very high levels of unemployment amongst educated youth in China��s cities,�� he said.

��It is actively seeking to deter many young people from pursuing a university education, because it fears 바카라사이트 socially and politically destabilising effects of increasing graduate unemployment. There has been a concerted effort to promote ��alternative�� career choices for young people, especially involving entrepreneurship.��

O바카라사이트r scholars were less convinced that China��s higher education system was heading towards marketisation. ��The vast majority of students will not go to cheaper universities or not go to university because of tuition increases,�� said Futao Huang, professor of higher education at Hiroshima University.

Still, universities should take care not to overshoot 바카라사이트 mark, warned Chia-Ming Hsueh, vice-dean of 바카라사이트 Office of International Affairs at Minghsin University of Science and Technology in Taiwan.

��Raising tuition fees also depends on market acceptance. I?believe that people are willing to spend money on education that is expensive but worthwhile��however, if 바카라사이트 value provided differs from 바카라사이트 increased tuition, it could result in enrolment difficulties,�� he said.

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