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Many Unhappy About High Tuition Fees
Some Chinese education experts and families are complaining about the recent tuition-hikes by local colleges.
By increasing tuition fees, universities could increase their revenue by 24 billion yuan (US$100=RMB827.93) and contribute as much as 100 billion yuan to the economy annually.
Compared with the average income of local urban residents, 5, 854 yuan per capita, and that of the rural residents, 2,210 yuan, average college tuition fee costing between 4,000-5,000 yuan is beyond most families, according to experts.
"I would have lost the chance to enter college without financial assistance," said Chen Shengsheng, a Beijing University freshman from a poor rural family who received the highest marks in the college entrance exams in his home province of Shanxi last year.
"My parents won't be able to afford to put me through college if my brother is admitted into college this year. This will increase the family's total schooling expenses to 17,000 yuan," Chen said.
Almost 60 per cent college students in China come from rural areas.
"Education needs to be market-oriented, but overemphasis on the role of market would turn the higher education into a patent for the minority rich families," said Jiang Minghe, a researcher with the Shanghai Education Research Institute.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance have been working to provide financial assistance and preferential policies to university students in financial difficulties such as reducing tuition fees or offering loans and scholarships for these students.
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