Universities adjust majors for strategy

China has unveiled a three-year action plan to optimize the layout and structure of academic disciplines in higher education institutions, aiming to better support the country's high-quality development and strategic needs.

The plan, covering the period from 2025 to 2027, was issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee's leading group for education. It calls for the rapid establishment of disciplines targeting strategic emerging industries and future industries.

It also highlights the creation of a national big data platform to align talent supply and demand. The management of discipline catalogs will be overhauled with shorter adjustment cycles and better coordination among postgraduate, undergraduate and vocational disciplines.

The plan supports the development of basic, applied and strategic disciplines; reforms evaluation mechanisms to strengthen the central role of talent cultivation; and improves incentive measures to continuously optimize discipline structures. It stresses enhancing fundamental disciplines and incubating emerging and interdisciplinary disciplines.

Existing disciplines will be adjusted through warnings and corrective measures for those with insufficient social demand, declining education quality or inadequate resources. Teaching content will also be updated, and artificial intelligence will be applied to empower education and teaching.

A guideline issued by the Ministry of Education and four other departments in 2023 set a target to optimize and adjust 20 percent of university majors by 2025 to cultivate new majors aligned with new technologies, industries and models.

In its latest round of changes announced in April, universities nationwide added 1,839 new undergraduate programs for 2025 while suspending enrollment in 2,220 programs and phasing out 1,428 others. By contrast, only 57 majors were adjusted in 2014, underscoring the acceleration of change in recent years.

An official with the ministry's department of higher education said a "green channel" mechanism has been created to allow immediate approval of disciplines linked to the nation's latest strategic priorities, bypassing the usual application requirements. Universities with adequate capacity and resources are guided to conduct feasibility studies and prepare for the establishment of such new majors, the official said.

In September 2024, for example, six universities, including Beihang University, were guided by the ministry outside the normal application period to establish a low-altitude technology and engineering major to meet the rapid development needs of the low-altitude economy, he said.

A total of 120 universities are preparing to add the low-altitude technology and engineering major in 2026, and it is expected to be one of the most popular academic subjects when launched, according to the ministry's application list.

The Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications has introduced more than 10 interdisciplinary majors in recent years, including artificial intelligence, spatial information and digital technology, intelligent interaction design and intelligent medical engineering, according to Huang Zhitong, deputy director of the academic affairs office of the university.

In 2024, the university reorganized and established the School of Intelligent Engineering and Automation, adding an undergraduate program in robotics engineering. Earlier this year, it added the low-altitude technology and engineering major and launched six micro-majors, including 6G mobile communications, intelligent robotics and advanced electronics, Huang said.

The university has also explored integrated development paths for liberal arts through "information +", "digital+" and "artificial intelligence +" educational programs, promoting the construction of new liberal arts specialties under the concept of interdisciplinary integration, he added.

Since 2023, it has collaborated with Beijing Film Academy, the University of International Business and Economics, and China University of Political Science and Law to launch five joint bachelor's degree programs, including "digital media technology + digital media art", "artificial intelligence+ financial technology", and "computer science and technology + accounting". Through such cooperation, Huang said, the university aims to cultivate interdisciplinary and top-tier innovative talent.