1985 in may, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China promulgated the decision on the reform of the education system. The "Decision" pointed out that "institutions of higher learning shoulder the heavy responsibility of cultivating senior professionals and developing science, technology and culture." This is the first time since the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC) that the task of higher education has been clearly attributed to the cultivation of senior professionals and the development of science, technology and culture. Another important decision related to the concept of higher education at this meeting is to clearly put forward the idea of expanding the autonomy of running universities and changing the "unified and excessive management system" of the government to make universities have the initiative and ability to adapt to the needs of economic and social development. "Although the autonomy gained by institutions of higher learning in the actual implementation process is far from the freedom granted in the document, we can still say that this decision has given China institutions of higher learning unprecedented autonomy since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In addition, the "Decision" also emphasizes that colleges and universities are teaching and scientific research centers, rather than being responsible for teaching or professional training like the Soviet model; The key points are to reform teaching content, teaching methods and teaching system, improve teaching quality, carry out teaching reform experiments, change the narrow situation of majors, increase elective courses, and implement credit system and double-degree system. To study and transplant the curriculum system and teaching content of higher education in advanced countries.
In 1990s, with the deepening of reform and opening up and the transformation of economic system, the development of higher education in China entered a new historical period. 1In July 1994, the State Council issued the "Implementation Opinions on the Outline of China's Education Reform and Development", proposing to further play the important role of institutions of higher learning in national scientific and technological work, implement the "2 1 1" project, and focus on building about 100 institutions of higher learning and a number of institutions oriented to 2 1. 1In August, 1998, the National People's Congress formulated and promulgated the Higher Education Law of People's Republic of China (PRC). The Law on Higher Education stipulates that "the task of higher education is to cultivate high-level professionals with innovative spirit and practical ability, develop science, technology and culture, and promote socialist modernization" and that "institutions of higher learning should face the society, run schools independently according to law, and implement democratic management", which highlights the cultivation of high-level professionals and their autonomy in running schools. This is the first higher education law enacted in People's Republic of China (PRC) in the past 50 years, which fully affirms the consensus we have reached in running higher education, training objectives and management system in the past 20 years of reform and opening up. At the same time, with the development of economy and the rising demand for higher education, the idea of popularization of higher education in western developed countries is being accepted by people and transformed into the government's education policy, and the tradition of China's higher education facing social elites is becoming history. It can be said that after a whole century of twists and turns, China's modern higher education finally has a clear idea, goal and direction to keep pace with the development of higher education in the world.
Higher education is an important part of China's education and the main force of national scientific research development and personnel training. As of April 24, 20 12, there were 2 138 national ordinary colleges (excluding independent colleges), including 403 private ordinary colleges; There are 348 adult colleges and universities in China, including private adult colleges and universities 1. In addition, the number of students enrolled in higher education in China is increasing. 2 1 century, China's higher education has entered the stage of popular development, with huge development space.