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The Chinese Constitution requires that all Chinese
children receive nine years of compulsory education, including six years of
primary school and three years of junior middle school.
 Higher education has developed substantially in the fifty years since
the founding of the People's Republic of China. A three-tier degree system,
offering bachelor's, masters, and doctorate degrees, was instituted in 1981.
Following a series of reforms, a diverse, multi-level system of higher education
has been initiated, encompassing a full range of subjects and suited to the
needs of the national economy and social development. China's institutions of
higher learning include comprehensive universities and specialized universities
or institutes. Most specialized programs take three years, with a small number
taking two years; comprehensive programs generally take four years, with a small
number taking five or six years. China has a number of famous universities,
including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Nankai
University, Beijing University of Science and Technology, Jilin University,
Wuhan University, and Nanjing University. After completing their studies, some
college graduates enter the job market, while others may pursue a second
bachelor's degree or enter a master's or doctoral program. People who have
received a doctorate may choose to continue their studies abroad. Students face
tests at every level of China's educational system, and only those who surmount
these hurdles are granted the opportunity to pursue a higher level of education.
 China's universities produced 829,100 graduates with bachelors
degrees between 1979 and 1997, 2.58 times as many as during the previous thirty
years. Universities and research institutes awarded a total of 20,514 doctorates
and 285,943 masters degrees between 1981 and 1996. Statistics indicate that
there were 1,071 universities in China in 1999, and that the number of university
students rose from 6.43 million in 1998 to 12.14 million by 2001, an increase of
89%. During this period, the number of master's degree students rose from 150,000
to 290,000, an increase of 93%, and the number of doctoral students rose from
45,000 to 77,000, an increase of 71%.
China's institutions of higher learning have produced a
large amount of advanced scientific research and technical applications. As of
the end of 2001, universities had won 250 State awards in the natural sciences,
50% of the national total; 1,002 State awards for technical inventions, 34% of
the national total; and 2,100 State awards for advances in science and
technology, 26% of the national total. Universities account for over 60% of all
scientific and technical studies published domestically and abroad each
year.
From China
-- Past and Present
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