Study On Public University Admission Authority In China

University admission system is a key link for universities to achieve the centralized selection of outstanding students and improve talents cultivation quality from the entrance;a fundamental guarantee for applicants to utilize their fair enrollment rights and enter ideal universities;Moreover,an important mechanism for the country to allocate higher education resources in different regions and groups.Since it concerns the interests of different subjects,university admission system has increasingly become a highly competitive,powerful,and high-risk education system,which has received great attention from all aspects.In essence,university admission system solves the problem of what standards are used to select the talents needed by the university.In determining admission procedures and qualifications,universities as the main institutions for talent training and export should play a major role;and this premise is the university has the autonomous right to recruit applicants.However,in the complex and changeable social,political,economic,and cultural environment,the involvement of government forces and the enhancement of market forces have made admission not only the complete expression of the university's own wishes,but also increasingly become a field where governments,universities,and consumers play against each other and influence each other,especially for public universities with special political properties.Balancing the relationship between government intervention,student interests,and university autonomy,and building a more scientific,more effective,and fairer approach to admission,has become the core demands of admission systems reform in various countries.Since the resumption of the unified college entrance examination system,China has continuously promoted the reform of university admission systems in an attempt to break the situation in which admission are completely controlled by the government;the new round of admission systems reform launched in 2014 is a further step towards expanding admission authority of universities and enhancing the selectivity of candidates.However,whether admission authority in universities is really implemented is still a hot issue in all sectors of society.What kind of admission authority do Chinese public universities have,what factors restrict their authority expansion,and how to determine the reasonable boundary between government intervention and university admission authority need to be further explored.To Clarify these issues is of great significance to further deepening the reform of university admission system,enhancing the effectiveness and competitiveness of talent selection,and safeguarding rights and interests of applicants.The nature and content of university admission authority is the starting point of research.From 12 th to 18 th centuries,admission authority was mainly manifested by the private rights of universities,“student application” and “university admission” constituted a simple two-way relationship.Since the 19 th century,based on the need to realize the overall national interests and public interests of society,governments began to allocate funds to finance public universities and gradually intervened in the management of university affairs,admission authority has begun to have the dual attributes of national public power and academic private rights.Government interference,university autonomy,and student choice have played a role in reciprocating the three forces,restructuring each other,and reconstructing the subject relationship of university admission.However,admissions autonomy is an abstract and general concept.In order to clarify its content,this study started from various aspects of the practice of university admission system,and summarizes admission authority as three components: free to determine enrollment planning,free to design test and implement,free to design admission rules and results.Using SABER policy analysis method,through a comparative analysis of the current situation of admission authority in public universities in nine countries,this study found that current admission systems can be classified into three categories: public universities have strong authority,government and public universities share admission authority with each other,public universities have few authority.The vast majority of public institutions in China belong to the third model.Based on the results of comparative study,this research used case study method to further describe and explain changes in the admissions system and the power game process of public universities in various countries,United Kingdom,the United States,and China were elected as representative cases to systematic understanding of the internal and influential mechanisms of the emergence,development,and evolution of public university admission authority.Judging from the historical process,the changes in the public university admission model of three countries showed different characteristics: Public universities in British had not been interfered by government for 800 years,but they had experienced "government intervention" and " high degree of admission authority " for more than50 years since 1960 s.Since the establishment of Harvard College,public universities admission in American has gone through different stages of " complete authority "," high degree of authority",and " limited authority".public universities admission in China reflected development and transformation from "strict government control" to "gradual decentralization" since 1977.There is no perfect university admission system in any social form or era.In fact,in order to resolve the conflict between the existing admission system and the new situation of higher education development,all countries continued to promote reform and innovation on the basis of historical traditions,seeking the best system scheme in dynamic adjustment,trying to make it adapted to nation's actual needs and college selection,responding to the interests of various groups.These reforms and adjustments have shaped the allocation model of admission authority in line with national conditions.From the perspective of system development,the choice of allocation model about public university admission authority in the three countries is not an isolated behavior,but results of the joint action of various social systems.At a certain stage of development,a country's political system,economic form,historical traditions,cultural concepts,population conditions,and other factors that are closely related to the higher education system constitute the external environment in which the admissions system is formed.These surrounding environments with national characteristics affect the strength comparison and interest game among governments,public universities,and consumers,determine the decision-making process and implementation method of admission policies,and then shape the admissions mode and power allocation of public universities in each country.Therefore,university admission system in various countries is not only a basic education system of selecting talents for universities and countries,but also an overall reflection of a country's political system,economic attributes,cultural traditions,and educational development level.From the perspective of reform trends,the operating mechanism of modern market economy not only brings about the diversity of educational needs,but also requires the mobilization of enthusiasm and initiative in all aspects of society,and respect for the choice and participation of actors.In the process of market-oriented higher education reform,admission system reform of three countries tends to adjust the tension between government intervention and university admission authority,strengthen the right of students and parents to know and choose,wishing to improve the competitiveness of universities in the student selection market through market competition and adjustment of resource allocation.Of course,given the differences in the social environment and the tradition of higher education system,reform pace in different countries will be different now and in the future,and the results of reform will naturally be different.In short,allocation model of public university admission authority is not only the product of the gradual progress of reforms,but also the result of interaction of various social systems,which is diachronic and country-specific.Because of this,we can't simply make absolute judgments on the strengths and weaknesses of the admission system models of various countries and the degree of admission authority of public universities,nor can we blindly transplant university admission models from one country to another,but It is necessary to examine the conditions of the allocation model of admission authority in Britain and United States historically and in accordance with local conditions,and carefully analyze and selectively learn from their reform experience.Since the reform and opening up,China has carried out many reforms and adjustment to various systems of higher education in the direction of "expanding university autonomy and mobilizing positive factors in all aspects".However,due to the uncertainty in the direction of reform and decentralization,the inadequate understanding of nature of admission authority,and the need to maintain stable administrative management,Chinese government has always failed to effectively grant greater degree of authority to public universities;on the other hand,Under the influence of long-term unified enrollment system,universities lack a sense of initiative and ability to use authority reasonably,which also restricts further empowerment of the government.Based on a realistic judgment of China's reform tasks,this study holds that the current degree and scope of admission authority in public universities is far from being able to meet the needs of modern economic society development.Gradually expanding admission authority,transforming policy idea of power expansion into practical operation through system reform step by step and specific admission practice,is the direction of deepening admission system reform.However,from the viewpoint of social recognition,technical support,and government intervention boundaries,it is neither realistic nor necessary for the government to delegate full admission authority to public universities in a short period of time.The reform proposals proposed in this thesis are as follows: based on national conditions and facing the future,government should gradually expand the admission authority of different types of public universities before clarifying their own power boundaries.At the same time,the government must play the functions of top-level design,macro guidance,and overall coordination which coordinate relationships among different interest groups,improve various supporting measures for reform,provide sufficient funding for admission,and strengthen supervision and regulation of the application of admission authority.Public universities as the main body of admission should constantly enhance their initiative awareness of admission,actively promote admission propaganda,increase investment in admissions;improve the ability to identify and select applicants,and build a professional admission organization team;improve the internal supervision and restriction mechanism to ensure the proper use of admission authority.