Higher Education in China: Domestic Demands and Global Aspirations
Author(s): Gerard A. Postiglione (Author)
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication Date: April 28, 2026
Language: English
Print length: 296 pages
ISBN-10: 1421454513
ISBN-13: 9781421454511
Book Description
Assessing the trajectory of China’s higher education system amid competing domestic priorities and global ambitions.
By 2025, China had twice as many college students as the United States, four times as many STEM graduates, and double the number of STEM PhDs. What will it mean for the global future when a quarter of a billion Chinese citizens hold higher education degrees? In this timely book, Gerard A. Postiglione—an internationally recognized authority on Chinese education—offers a panoramic view of the world’s largest state-directed higher education system and its complex interplay with China’s social, economic, and geopolitical ambitions.
At the center of Postiglione’s analysis is the tension between domestic imperatives and global aspirations. As China aims to cultivate a world-significant higher education system by 2035, it faces a trio of formidable challenges: graduate employment, equitable access, and governance reform. Higher Education in China unpacks how elite Chinese research institutions and rapidly expanding second- and third-tier colleges are navigating these pressures amid a shifting landscape shaped by urban-rural inequality, labor market demands, and technological disruption.
Based on policy consultation with China’s Ministry of Education and on-the-ground research in nearly every province, Postiglione’s account brings unmatched depth and perspective. He traces how returnee scholars, massification policies, and regional development initiatives have transformed campuses and classrooms, while also posing difficult questions about sustainability, quality, and inclusion. Higher Education in China illustrates how the country’s evolving academic system may influence its long-term trajectory—and, by extension, reshape the global order of knowledge and innovation.
Editorial Reviews
Review
As China seeks global respect for innovation and creativity, it has to balance the needs and opportunities for new generations of graduates. Dr Postiglione has given us a penetrating picture of China’s higher education policies and practices directed to achieve that balance. This outstanding study provides key insights into China’s determination to become a model modern civilisation. ―Wang Gungwu, National University of Singapore
Gerry Postiglione is one of the world’s leading experts on universities. With American universities under siege at home, China’s leadership in research and education seems assured. But can China overcome its own domestic constraints, such as unequal access and politicized governance? Do Hong Kong’s universities offer lessons? Will China achieve its goal be ‘a leading country’ in education in a decade’s time? Postiglione’s superb and subtle book addresses these questions and more. This book is required reading for university presidents the world over. ―William Kirby, Harvard University
If you want to understand a critical component of the Chinese political and economic machinery and the nature of Chinese performance, you need to understand its higher education system. Gerard Postiglione’s book is a detailed and thorough exploration of this subject and he is joining a coterie of excellent scholars who have written on this vital topic. ―Yasheng Huang, author of
The Rise and Fall of the EAST: How Exams, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology Brought China Success, and Why They Might Lead to its Decline
Few institutions reveal China’s ambitions and anxieties as clearly as its universities. With insight and balance, Gerard A. Postiglione shows how higher education has become a testing ground for meritocracy, mobility, and state authority in modern China. This is an essential book for anyone interested in education and contemporary China. ―Ruixue Jia, University of California, San Diego
Book Description
Assessing the trajectory of China’s higher education system amid competing domestic priorities and global ambitions.
About the Author
Gerard A. Postiglione is a professor and former associate dean for research at the University of Hong Kong. He is the author of Education, Ethnicity, Society, and Global Change in Asia.
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