Private Developments

NUMBER 51, SPRING 2008

China's Private Universities: A Successful Case Study

Ruth Hayhoe and Jing Lin
Ruth Hayhoe is professor in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto; Jing Lin is professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland. Address: OISE/UT, 252 Bloor St. West, 6/F, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1V6. E-mail: hayhoe@bellsouth.net; Jinglin@wam.umd.edu. See also http://chinesehighereducation.org/.

As China has moved rapidly to mass higher education since its groundbreaking 1999 decision on expansion, private universities have come to account for about 6.6 percent of student enrollments, or about 1.34 million of the 20.2 million students enrolled in formal higher education in 2006. Major public universities have also contributed, not only by expanding their regular enrollments but also by setting up second-tier colleges, which are income-generating extensions, that benefit from the university's self-accrediting status and its qualified faculty. These effective private institutions have enrollments of 1.47 million students, around 7.3 percent of the total.

Given the advantaged position of second-tier colleges, how have independent private universities managed to compete? The case of Yellow River University of Science and Technology in Henan Province may provide some answers to this question. It was the first private university to enroll government-approved diploma students in 1994 and the first to enroll degree students in 1999, with a rapid expansion of degree programs in response to the massification decision taken that year. By 2007, this university had 13,000 students enrolled in 37 degree programs, as well as another 5,000 in diploma and certificate programs and 1,500 in adult education programs. It was also cooperating with two top public universities, Tongji in Shanghai and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, to run a small number of master's degree programs. These numbers make it a leader among China's independent private universities, as only 24 are now accredited to run degree programs, with more than 1,250 others focusing on teaching at the subdegree level.

Origins and Quality of Students
Seventy percent of the students at Yellow River come from Henan Province, with a population of 97 million, and the majority are from rural areas. Another 30 percent come from other parts of China. These students tend to have marks in the lower levels of the national entry examinations, and university leaders are well aware of the need to bolster their confidence and provide learning opportunities that emphasize practical and employment-related knowledge. Thus, niche areas have been developed such as television and radio broadcasting, advertising and design, engineering and construction geared to county-level technical employment needs, and music education oriented to self-employment. Student fees average at around 10,000 yuan, much higher than the average of 3,000 for public university programs in Henan, but lower than the 13,000 charged for second-tier colleges locally, also a competitive level for attracting students from outside the province. Students are given many opportunities for internships and student-organized activities on campus, while discipline is stricter than in public universities, and most live in campus dormitories closely supervised by counselors under the head of student affairs, who is also vice-secretary of the university's Communist Party Committee.

Teaching and Research
Attracting and keeping qualified faculty is a challenge for private universities, and Yellow River's faculty profile gives some insights into how this is done. With a full-time faculty of 800, and another 500 part-time teachers cross-appointed from other institutions, there is a faculty/student ratio of about 1:19. Senior faculty, including deans and department chairs, are mostly retired professors from public institutions, with sound qualifications and experience. Many younger faculty have been appointed with master's degrees from public universities and are given initial five-year contracts, with a promotion to lecturer possible after two years. In the autumn of 2006, for example, 130 new appointees had been attracted from a double cohort of graduating master's students, as China's master's degree programs had been reduced from three to two years. Some teachers with first degrees are appointed, often in recognition of relevant professional experience, but they are given less favorable contracts.

From the university's founding, teaching excellence has been strongly emphasized, as essential to attracting students. At present, major efforts are going into teaching improvement, with experienced professors invited as consultants from outside and various supports for teaching enhancement being put in place. In June of 2008, the university will undergo its first formal teaching evaluation by the national Ministry of Education, an important milestone in public recognition, following the approval of an expanding number of degree programs. Teaching is the main focus of faculty work, and teaching loads are high, averaging 12 classes per week. Research is just beginning, with 19 projects recently registered with the provincial education bureau and the Henan Academy of Social Sciences. This is the way Yellow River has gained public approval for its research, in a situation where funding is provided internally. The 46 faculty members who developed these projects are rewarded with lowered teaching loads and expected to build a nascent research culture.

Governance and Finance
China's 1998 higher education law stipulates that universities are legal persons, and its 2003 law on minban (people-run) higher education states that "the government allows a reasonable return on private school investment." University property is owned by the institution, two large campuses in Yellow River's case, but many services may be separately incorporated and become a source of income. There is no direct government supervision over the budget, and the issue of profit, or a reasonable return on investment, remains a grey area. The 2002 law stipulates that a board of trustees is to oversee university governance, and Yellow River has recently established such a board, but its members consist mainly of internal leaders, including the president and several other founding members. While adhering to the law and claiming its protection is important, good relations with local government and political leaders are also seen as crucial. Thus the founding president became a Communist Party member in 1995 and established a Party Committee on the campus in 1997. She has also worked closely with family members in building up the university, appointing her daughter as executive vice-president, responsible for external affairs, and recently bringing her son back from a career in finance in the United States to serve as chief financial officer. This kind of family "responsibility system" is fairly common in China's private institutions.

Yellow River is not a typical private university, however, but one of a very few with the kind of strong leadership that has made it a major player. Government policy has kept most in a subordinate position, where it is extremely difficult to compete with the second-tier colleges of public universities, and few are permitted to offer degree programs.

[Online] Available: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/Number51/p6_Hayhoe_Lin.htm