The Policy Analysis On Adjustment Of Undergraduate Programs Structure In Hubei Province During The Span Of Expansion

Discipline programs structure is an important part of higher education. The higher education system of China has experienced expansion which resulted in a sharp increasing of enrollment since 1999. Quantitative change causes qualitative change which includes that of structure. The study deals with adjustment of undergraduate programs structure in Hubei province. The key observation points are the number of program establishment, program distributed points, and enrollment. The research statistics and policy analysis are based on three-dimensions of program establishment, program distribution and enrollment through collecting and analyzing a good number of data.The study shows undergraduate programs structure has adjusted more or less in three factors of discipline structure,distribution structure and type structure in colleges and universities of Hubei. In discipline structure, program establishment almost has been kept the same pattern, however, there is a huge transformation in distributed points and enrollment. In distribution structure, the number of higher education institutions has increased at the same proportion in different areas. In the number of program distributed points and enrollment, education resource has been diffused from Wuhan to its surrounding areas and remote regions. In type structure, programs in catalogue and out catalogue make all the difference with growth number and rate. Programs in catalogue has increased slowly in establishment but quickly in distribution, nevertheless, programs out catalogue proves the opposite.From an angle of policy analysis, there are four factors which have huge impact on adjustment of undergraduate programs structure in Hubei—expansion policy, manage policy of undergraduate programs establishment, investment policy of higher education and independent college policy. Expansion policy has deeply affected on enrollment and distributed points; manage policy of undergraduate programs establishment has restricted undergraduate programs establishment and the variation of distributed points; investment policy of higher education has spurred colleges and universities to establish low-cost programs, the outcome of which is〝structural unbalance〞in some programs to train personnel; independent college policy has accelerated the formation of undergraduate program structure.Adjusting is to optimize undergraduate program structure in Hubei from a policy perspective. First, controlling speed of enrollment growth and transforming the major focus to enhance quality of training personnel. Second, reforming manage policy of undergraduate programs establishment, relaxing limitation on standers of catalogue division, expending decision-making powers of programs establishment to higher education institutions, establishing mechanism of program evaluation and selection. Third, optimizing investment policy of higher education, rising grant and fund to higher education, broadening sources of investment. Last, leading independent colleges running toward market and developing staggered.