Developing Small and Medium-sized Instututions is the Strategy of Choice Used to Popularize Higher Education

Sun Ming

Abstract:

China’s current high education is undertaking a transformation. Previously, our focus dominantly relied on the scale of universities, emphasizing too much on academic research achievements and extensiveness of faculties. These features have been gradually replaced by new ones with the progressive development of massive higher education, which has become the trend of education reform in China, featured by diversified approaches of running universities. As important as the medium and small-sized enterprises to national business community, medium and small-sized higher education institutions are the major force in popularizing higher education, during which therefore the development of medium and small-sized higher education institutions would naturally become the issue of strategic concern. During the whole stage of this transformation, education is closely related to economic and social development. Unlikely to get sufficient national investment in education, medium and small-sized higher education institutions must find their due positions, pay more attention to quality nurturing and distinguish themselves as unique brands. To avoid deviating from the road of scientific, healthy and fast development based on basic national situation, they must always keep nimble and responsive to market, and make cost-effective operational strategies with high efficiency and strong cultural background. What’s founded the philosophy for the development of China’s medium and small-sized higher education institutions are the replacement of the linear way of thinking by the multi-dimensional one, the function shift from administrative identities to legal person identities and the new focus on cultivating individuality of each university. Government’s role, in this regard, lies in erecting role models, providing policy guidance, injecting new elements to the educational system and building healthy platform for fair competition.