University and College Education

To be admitted to a university or college, high school graduates must take the highly competitive Joint Entrance Examination held each summer by a board composed of university presidents. Successful candidates are assigned to a university based on their preference and examination results.

At present, the exam includes Chinese, English, Three Principles of the People, and Math, for all students; those following the social sciences and humanities track also take History and Geography; those in the physical sciences track would also take Physics and Chemistry, those in Medicine or Biological Sciences would add Biology, Physics, and Chemistry, and those interested in Agriculture would add Chemistry and Biology. Some students take the entire battery of tests. At this writing there are plans to abolish the United College Entrance Exam (UCEE or J(Joint)CEE) and replace it with an admissions system which would work more like the system in the U.S.

In 1996, 58.88% of senior academic high school graduates entered one of the forms of post-secondary education described above; 17.71% of vocational high school graduates did so. Of the 124,654 who took the entrance examination for the day sessions of the 60 bachelor degree-granting colleges in 1996, 61,381 (49.24%) were admitted.

The academic year is divided into two semesters, the first of which begins in early or mid-September and continues until late January. Following a three- to four-week-long winter vacation, the second semester begins in February and normally continues until late June. Summer sessions are rare.

Chinese is the language of instruction in all schools. English textbooks are used in many departments, although lectures are in Chinese unless given by the occasional visiting foreign professor.

In most departments, 128 credits taken over four years are the minimum requirement for completion of a bachelor's degree. While course content generally tends to be closely related to a student's major, the current trend towards wider choice means that students at several universities and colleges are being offered a larger selection of electives.

Bachelor's degree is awarded in most fields after four years of study. The Bachelor of Medicine requires seven years, the Bachelor of Dentistry six years, and the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine five years. In addition, some law and architecture departments require five years.