After decades of effort, higher learning institutions attached to the Chinese People's Liberation Army are now able to confer academic degrees at all levels, according to army sources.

Currently, students at military universities and colleges study a wide range of subjects including science, engineering, management, medicine, literature, and military science.

The army schools have 41 mobile stations for postdoctoral research, 31 doctorate-conferring units, 157 doctorate-conferring stations, and 572 stations offering master's degrees. Over 8,000 students are now studying for their master's degree.

In the 1950s, army schools provided postgraduate education to train senior officers, but this was hindered by the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

Since the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of young people have graduated from military academies with master's degree or doctorates, improving the quality of Chinese army officers markedly.

These higher education institutions boast a large army of experienced teachers including many well-known Chinese scholars.

Over the past two decades, a series of laws and regulations have been issued to strengthen the administration of the conferring of academic degrees by army schools. (Xinhua)