China’s universities are rapidly moving to reallocate their academic resources in line with government priorities, with 19 institutions so far looking to suspend or discontinue a total of 99 degree programs this year, domestic media outlet ScienceNet.cn reported on Tuesday.

The moves appear to be a response to a higher education reform plan issued by several central government departments last April, which set a target of adjusting 20% of the country’s university degree programs by 2025.

That strategy called on universities to set up new courses aligned with emerging technologies, industries, and business models, while phasing out programs that are deemed not to contribute to China’s economic and social development.

The programs being eliminated cover a wide range of disciplines. In July, Sichuan University in southwestern China announced it was discontinuing 31 majors, including music, insurance, television studies, public administration, e-commerce, and nuclear physics.

In many cases, the courses being phased out are degrees that universities set up years ago when they were considered attractive to students, according to Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute.

While many of these programs were initially popular, they often failed to provide real value and their graduates struggled to find jobs after graduation, Xiong said. The public administration and e-commerce programs at Sichuan University were good examples of this, he added.

“When optimizing and adjusting academic programs, it is essential to shift away from the pursuit of popularity,” Xiong said. “A program, no matter how popular, should not be offered if it does not align with the university’s mission or if the university doesn’t have enough resources to help it stand out.”

ScienceNet.cn made a similar point in its report. After analyzing every university major discontinued between 2018 and 2022 — using a data set provided by Chongqing University’s School of Journalism and Communication — it found that lower-tier universities in central and eastern China were most likely to scrap a high number of courses.

This is likely because those universities face fierce competition, as they are surrounded by dozens of elite institutions, the report suggested. Unable to compete against the country’s top schools in traditional disciplines, they have tended to launch a high number of more innovative programs to attract students.

By contrast, universities based in Beijing and Shanghai — where many of China’s elite schools are located — were statistically unlikely to phase out programs, the report said. Those based in western China were also less likely to cancel degrees, perhaps because competition is less intense in that part of the country.

Between 2018 and 2022, universities were most likely to scrap degrees in engineering, which made up 31% of the discontinued programs, followed by management and science, according to ScienceNet.cn.

The high number of engineering and management programs being phased out may come as a surprise. Both disciplines have high graduate employment rates in China, with engineering’s standing at 100%, according to the report.

But engineering graduates also tend to have low salaries, job satisfaction rates, and career development prospects, which had made some universities consider deprioritizing the discipline, the report said.

Engineering departments have also faced cutbacks as universities pour more resources into new disciplines such as artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing, robotics, and cloud computing, it added.

By contrast, disciplines such as history, medicine, and philosophy have faced fewer program closures, according to the report. This is likely because the departments are stable and well-established, making them less susceptible to changes in market demand.

Last year, China’s Ministry of Education advised universities to exercise caution when establishing new programs and to quickly reduce enrollment for programs that have low employment rates or are poorly aligned with societal needs.

ScienceNet.cn also emphasized the need for universities to consider factors like market demand and their available talent pool when adjusting academic offerings, to avoid making shortsighted decisions.

“Blindly following trends and hastily introducing ‘popular’ majors without thorough analysis and forecasting may lead to a homogenization of academic offerings,” it stated. “On the other hand, indiscriminately eliminating ‘unpopular’ majors could disrupt the disciplinary structure and potentially impact universities’ overall educational standards.”

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