Higher education undergraduate programs are undergoing a new round of adjustments. The Ministry of Education (MOE) recently announced the 2023 review and approval results for ordinary higher education undergraduate programs and released the 2024 catalog of undergraduate programs. Electronic Information Materials, Soft Matter Science and Engineering, High-Power Semiconductor Science and Engineering, Bio-breeding Technology, Ecological Restoration, Health Science and Technology, and 24 other new programs have been officially added to the catalog and will be available for college admission starting in 2024. To date, the catalog includes a total of 93 program categories and 816 programs.
It is worth noting that 1,719 major programs were added or adjusted while 1,670 programs applied for revocation were approved. The total number of programs affected - 3,389 - is the highest in history.
What trends does the adjustment of the catalog reflect? An official from the MOE's Department of Higher Education said that the review and approval of programs is both an annual routine for dynamically adjusting undergraduate programs and an implementation of the "Reform Plan for Optimization and Adjustment of Discipline and Major Development in Ordinary Higher Education." It is a vital practice for improving education's support and contribution to high-quality development and cultivating strategic national and in-demand talents.
"Currently, the rapid development of science and technology, such as generative artificial intelligence (AIGC), has 'reformatted' many industries and fields. This not only requires universities to transform their research paradigms but also poses new demands on education and talent cultivation." This view by Xu Fei, the executive vice president of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, also represents the sentiments of many university administrators: Education, science, and technology are the foundational and strategic pillars of building a socialist modern country in an all-around way. Higher education must make timely and continuous adjustments to cultivate talents for the future.
Enhancing Interdisciplinary Studies, Cultivating National Strategic Talents
What is the context of the catalog adjustment? In response, the MOE clarified that 54 universities will offer the 24 newly added programs, with the intention of guiding and supporting universities in developing new programs urgently needed for national strategies and regional development.
For example, to better serve the national strategy, the MOE has added new programs such as National Security, Electronic Information Materials, Bio-breeding Technology, and Ecological Restoration. At the same time, universities are supported to increase a number of in-demand programs such as Digital Economy, Integrated Circuit Design and Integrated System.
Xu Fei analyzed that the newly added programs are in line with the national strategy and meet the new requirements for the country to cultivate and strengthen new productivity. "The country currently advocates actively cultivating emerging industries and future industries, opening up new paths such as quantum technology and life science. However, we must also ask ourselves, Are our disciplines and talents ready?" Xu Fei believes that, especially in talent cultivation, the country urgently needs interdisciplinary crossover and cross-technical integration.
The reporter found that in this round of adjustments, three universities in Shanghai will offer new programs. The Health Science and Technology program added by Shanghai Jiao Tong University belongs to the Pu-yuan Future Technology Academy. According to an official, the program is geared towards future human health and builds a talent cultivation system that integrates science, engineering, medicine, and liberal arts. At the same time, it combines "general education" courses and "innovative practice" courses around "biological health" and "machine health" technologies, forming a "one body, two wings" course system that integrates cross-disciplinary and future health technologies.
The Electronic Information Materials program added by East China University of Science and Technology is an emerging interdisciplinary subject spanning chemistry, materials science and engineering, and chemical engineering and technology. Gu Jinlou, deputy dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at East China University of Science and Technology, said that the上述 disciplines are strong and are all national double first-class disciplines. Gu Jinlou also disclosed that as a discipline urgently needed by the country, the program has already begun recruiting students two years ago. It has not only gathered top teachers in the discipline but also cooperated with well-known enterprises to implement industry-education integration and improve the quality of talent cultivation.
In addition, the Shanghai University of Sport has added a new program in Football.
Optimizing the Structure and Layout of Programs, Emphasizing Employment Orientation
In this round of catalog adjustments, engineering, education, and economics have the most new programs, while management and arts have relatively fewer.
Experts analyzed that in terms of disciplines, engineering has the largest number of programs, with 1,322, accounting for 39%, which is consistent with engineering being the largest first-level discipline. In terms of regional distribution, there are 1,802 programs involving universities in central and western China, accounting for 53.17%. Overall, the structure and regional distribution of programs have been further optimized, and universities are becoming more rational in their program offerings.
Fan Xiudi, director of the Education Evaluation Center of Tongji University, said that another notable characteristic of this round of catalog adjustments is the emphasis on employment orientation, further guiding universities to serve the needs of local industries. For example, the MOE has made it clear that provincial coordination should be strengthened, and local universities should be guided to add programs in high demand for regional key industries, such as Intelligent Manufacturing Engineering, New Energy Vehicle Engineering, Smart Agriculture, and Intelligent Mining Engineering.
The MOE also said that the linkage between employment and program offerings should be further strengthened, and each province should combine its own industrial development to sort and submit 223 types of programs with relatively low employment rates, providing important references for universities to adjust their program structure. In addition, each province has also sorted and submitted 520 types of programs in urgent need.
First Trial of Pre-application System for Program Offerings
"While giving universities autonomy in running their schools, the MOE is also demanding more from universities in terms of their primary responsibilities," Fan Xiudi said. The MOE now requires universities to be cautious about adding programs with low employment rates or that do not meet social demands and to adjust them in a timely manner.
Higher education institutions are required to plan for new specializations based on the requirements of socioeconomic development and their own school positioning and teaching conditions, and submit pre-applications a year in advance. This promotes the establishment of sound mechanisms for regular research and advance planning of specializations, enhancing the foresight and precision of specialization establishment. Currently, 760 higher education institutions have submitted pre-application materials for proposed specializations for the next academic year.
Currently, of the 816 specializations, 139 are nationally controlled, accounting for 17%. In the future, the scope of nationally controlled specializations will continue to be dynamically adjusted through additions and removals.
(Original title: The Ministry of Education issues the 2024 Catalog of Undergraduate Specializations for Higher Education Institutions, adding 24 new specializations aimed at national strategies and urgent regional development needs - 3389 specialization points added, removed, and adjusted, "the most in history" - what does it mean?)
