Abstract
The Chinese government has implemented a series of special admission policies in recent years to increase access to elite universities for disadvantaged students from rural areas and less developed inland regions. Using administrative data of 1996–2015 freshman cohorts and survey data of a 2014 freshman cohort at X University in the eastern China, we empirically assess the effectiveness, and the dual concerns of equity and efficiency of these policies. Findings show that these policies have effectively changed the geographic composition of enrollees at X University toward higher proportions of students from the central and western regions and lower share of the local students. While students from the western region underperformed academically, urban students in this region caught up quickly. Low family SES and weak academic preparation largely explained why rural students from the western region underperformed. Importantly, compared with the local students who scored lower in college entrance exam—the proxy for likely displaced students because of the policies, the likely admission policy beneficiaries performed about equally well. These results indicate that the current practice of Chinese special admission policies has effectively promoted equal access to Chinese elite universities with a limited loss in efficiency.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs12564-018-9521-1/MediaObjects/12564_2018_9521_Fig1_HTML.gif)
(Source: X University administrative data, freshman cohorts 1996–2015)
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Notes
Among 2014 freshman cohort, the rate of leaving X University is roughly the same at 4% for students from east, central and western regions, but a bit higher at 6% for local students.
Using 3rd performance variables may not be consequential because Chinese college students usually complete majority of their course work by the end of junior year, and mainly focus on graduation preparation, such as internship or a capstone project in the 4th year. Another research study published by the authors finds that the disadvantaged students mostly have completed the academic catching up by the end of junior year.
Comparing the freshman GPA and failing classes based on administrative data that include all enrollees, the survey sample is slightly selective for those from the central region.
For example, among the bottom third local students, 92% are only child, and 41% have a father holding managerial position, 55% need help is study skills; in contrast, among western rural students, the corresponding percentages are 19, 6, and 83%, respectively.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a China Ministry of Education Humanity and Social Science Research Planning Project Grant (#16YJA880029). We are grateful to Grace Zheng and Amani Grow for their instructive feedbacks and editorial supports.
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Niu, S.X., Wan, G. The effectiveness and efficiency of China’s special admission policies: the case of X University. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 19, 63–78 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-018-9521-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-018-9521-1