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Private College Student Protest over Diploma Title

PROPHE Summary (by Prachayani Praphamontripong):

Graduates of a Chinese private college (Shengda, with 13,000 students) have protested over their diploma titles, asking for different labels, refunds, tuition discounts, and full apologies from the headmaster. The institution had promised that their diplomas would bear the name of its prestigious parent university (Zhengzhou) but they did not. Similar cases have also happened since (1998) the government encouraged an expansion of private colleges to accommodate millions of students failing to get into national universities, but with a condition for the colleges to be supervised by their mother schools. As at Shengda, protests can include violence. The new colleges (private) charge much higher tuition fees than their parent universities (public) yet many students have been willing to pay as it would give them a chance to affiliate with a top university and increase their employability. Thus, student riots are a threat when such partnerships turn sour. Such problems reflect a backdrop of an exploding college student population within a reality of comparatively undeveloped academic infrastructure and a very competitive job market. As the number of college graduates has proliferated fivefold in the last seven years, at least 60% are facing employment difficulty.

For the full story, see the New York Times, June 22, 2006, "Rioting in China over Label on College Diplomas," by Joseph Kahn.

PROPHE Observation (by Daniel C. Levy):

How to manage explosive demand is a widespread challenge in global higher education. To please the demanding public and yet guard against the heavy problems often associated with demand-absorbing institutions, one idea is to have partnerships between private colleges and public universities. China turned to such a policy after a decade and a half of private proliferation. To say this least, the Chinese partnerships have not been smooth panaceas. Where they breakdown, students can get the short end of the stick, having paid major sums for weaker academic and job-market standing than anticipated.

Resultant problems are thus academic, economic, social, and ethical. They are also political. An authoritarian government has promoted spectacular marketization with expanding wealth and mobility. Curtailed opportunity undermines popular support and even raises the specter of alliances between frustrated students and frustrated workers, an alliance that has proven potent in some countries over the years.

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