Tuition fees jump nationwide after cap lifted

New students at universities in Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian and Guizhou provinces as well as Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in September will be hit by sharp tuition increases, as Chinese universities struggle to balance the need for education for all against financial constraints.

Universities in Ningxia are expected to see the sharpest increase year-on-year, with tuition fees in liberal arts, science and medical science rising by over 50 percent. It is the first time in 14 years that Ningxia has raised tuition fees.

While Ningxia is ranked 25th among China's provinces and municipalities in terms of disposable income per capita, its average tuition now equals that of Tianjin, which ranks fifth, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2013, reported Beijing-based The Mirror.

The policies will have a strong impact on poorer families, as it is widely believed that the percentage of tuition fees for higher education should not be more than 20 percent of a family's yearly disposable income per capita.

"The average household income in many cities in Ningxia is far less than that in Yinchuan, the regional capital. My tuition used to account for 40 percent of my family income. Now it will be a heavier burden for some households whose yearly income is less than 20,000 yuan ($3,254) on average if the tuition increases to 4,000 yuan," said Li Sheng (pseudonym), a graduate of Ningxia University.

Universities' attempts to raise tuition fees have been blocked by educational authorities for more than a decade. As the latest order to enact a five-year tuition freeze expired in 2012, a number of universities have rolled out their new fee schemes.

Shandong spearheaded the tuition adjustment in 2013, followed by nine provincial areas, including Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Controversy arises

Leaders of many universities are explaining the "urgent need" for the raise, saying that the long lingering tuition, price inflation and a surge in running costs have put universities under great pressure for a decade. Those colleges supervised and funded by provincial authorities face much more pressure than State-funded ones.

"The main reason for the tuition increases is the mounting cost of educating a student," said Zhao Wenhong, an official of Ningxia Price Bureau, adding that a lack of funding has restricted the development of universities despite rising investment by the government.

Facing the continuous tuition hike, the State Council issued a guideline on the financial aid system for students from families with financial difficulties in 2007, capping tuition fees at 2006 levels for the next five years.

"When the limit was issued, we began to worry that the tuition would bounce upward if the universities' funding sources did not change before lifting the cap. The current situation is what we anticipated," said Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute.

Xiong attributed the tuition increases to limited funding channels and lavish spending.

The funding sources of a healthy university are composed of government investment, tuition, donations and business revenue, but Chinese universities depend on merely government funding and tuition, said Chu Zhaohui, a research fellow with National Institute of Education Sciences.

"Certain universities suffer from overstaffed administration, excessive administrative spending, and unnecessary 'image projects,'" said Xiong. "Such expenditure should not be shared by each student under the guise of educational costs."

The collective gross liabilities of 1,164 universities and colleges funded by local governments exceeded 260 billion yuan by the end of 2010, said Liu Liyun, an official of National Audit Office.

Zhang Shaoxiong, a professor with the Academy of Education Studies of Central South University, said that tuition should not be increased to offset these debts.

Liu Haifeng, head of Education Institute of Xiamen University, however, acknowledged the causes of tuition adjustment.

"Tuition increases are a trend around the world. The tuition standard in Chinese universities was established a decade ago and inconsistent with the current structure of expenditure," he noted.

Unclear finances

Many analysts attribute the controversy to opaque budgets.

According to a recent online survey conducted by China Youth Daily on more than 2,000 people, about 78 percent of them insisted that the prerequisite for tuition increases should be to make public a education cost, the newspaper reported on July 27. Some 87 percent of the respondents have attended or are attending universities.

The Ministry of Education stated it was about to establish a framework for appraising the average education cost of undergraduates in 2007, but has still not unveiled it.

"It is difficult to calculate the tuition on the basis of average education cost now. Some colleges attempted to appraise the fee, but the calculation is too professional to apply to all the universities in a short time," Chu said.

Xiong pointed out that the average education cost calculated by certain universities is just the allocation of operational cost that is much higher than the real education cost.

He said that the Ministry of Education should further urge all universities that have raised tuition to publicize detailed financial statements so as to appraise the average education cost.

"The financial transparency may help reduce the operating cost and the burden of students, and encourage organizations to donate," he noted.

"Although it is reasonable to raise tuition due to the price inflation, the insufficient investment in higher education by the government and limited donations from the public, the tuition increases should be well-founded. The government should lead the adjustment, inviting some related parties to appraise it," the Economic Daily commented on Tuesday.

Xiong also indicated that hearings for tuition adjustment exist in name only and called for a fair hearing.

At a public hearing for tuition increases of Shandong's five universities in October 2013, Shangdong Price Bureau announced that 28 out of 29 representatives agreed to raise tuition, People's Daily reported.

The representatives were composed of 14 ordinary consumers, four disinterested university delegates, two interested representatives and seven people from various walks of life.

Nevertheless, the survey conducted by China Youth Daily in July this year indicated that about 76 percent of respondents opposed tuition increases.

"Public universities are funded by the public, so they should provide affordable education services for everyone," scholar Bing Qi wrote in The Beijing News on Tuesday.