Editor’s Note: For success-obsessed Chinese high school students, new school rankings are hugely important. As millions of Chinese all scramble to test into the country’s top universities, Tsinghua University’s fall from its golden pedestal of excellence is big news. This article from learning.sohu.com, part of Sohu (one of China’s largest portal sites), gives us some insight into China’s 2011 university rankings.

This February, the National Bureau of Statistics in China released the annual report, Picking your University and Choosing your Major – A Guide to Filling in the 2011 College Entrance Exam, overseen by the expert Wu Shulian and his team. The report is over one million characters long and ranks 706 Chinese universities in comprehensive strength, in disciplines and in undergraduate majors. This is the tenth consecutive year the Bureau of Statistics has published the report which is immensely popular with students about to take the national college entrance exam.

1) Comprehensive Strength: Zhejiang University Comes out on Top

 

Zhejiang University beat out the competition with 207.91 points on Wu Shulian’s 2011 list, making it number one in comprehensive strength among Chinese universities. Peking University received a 200.34 score, holding onto its second place title. Tsinghua University, once champion for 14 years straight, fell into third place with 190.25 points. The fourth through tenth place universities were: Shanghai Jiaotong University, Fudan University, Nanjing University, Sun Yat-sen University, Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Sichuan University.

This is the first time since the Chinese University Rankings began in 1993 that Zhejiang University has won first place in overall strength. Zhejiang University’s lowest ever ranking in the category was sixth place (in 1993, a year Peking University received 1st place), and its previous highest ranking was second place (in 2001; Tsinghua University was ranked number 1 that year). From 1997 to 2000, Zhejiang held onto its fourth place spot. For nine years (2002-2010) it remained in third place. In 2002 its score was about 74% of Tsinghua’s, that year’s champion. In 2010 its score was 99.51% of the champion’s (again Tsinghua).

Zhejiang University’s victory marks an end to 18-year iron grip on the first place spot either by Tsinghua or Peking University in Wu Shulian’s Chinese University Rankings’s and the 24-year hold on first place by either university since the first national university rankings were published in the Guangming Daily by the China Academy of Management Science for Scientific Research in 1987. This is therefore the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Chinese university rankings.

2) Per Capital Efficiency: Tsinghua University No.1

Wu Shulian’s Chinese University Rankings 2011 ranks Chinese university professors’ per capital efficiency and the per capital efficiency for professor and student research. These two important evaluation criteria reflect the effectiveness of professors’ work and the per capital academic level. Tsinghua University took first place in both.

For professors’ per capital efficiency, Tsinghua is hands down number one, raking in a colossal 7.9471 points. Nanjing University, in second place, received 6.0105 points, and Peking University came in third with 5.9229 points. The winners for fourth-tenth place were: University of Science and Technology of China (5.6654 points), Zhejiang University (5.2838 points), Fudan University (5.2221 points), Nankai University (4.7692 points), Shanghai Jiaotong University (4.4307 points), Renmin University (3.9678 points) and Beijing Normal University (3.7517 points).

In addition, Tsinghua is in top place in the nation for science and technology awards (including Top National Awards for Science and Technology, National Awards for Natural Sciences, National Awards for Technological Innovation and National Awards for Progress in the Fields of Science and Technology). 　

3) Awards for Academic Excellence: Peking University No. 1

National Awards for Science and Technology, National Awards for Natural Sciences, the National Awards for Technological Innovation, National Awards for Progress in the Fields of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Education’s awards for excellence in the Humanities and Social Sciences among others represent the country’s top levels of academic excellence and the peak of awards for scientific research in China. Peking University took the category for most awards received by storm in the Chinese University Rankings 2011 with 10,023.54 points. Tsinghua University came in second with 9,523.49 points and Zhejiang University took third place with 6,586.66 points. The fourth – tenth place schools were: Fudan University (6,095.26 points), Shanghai Jiaotong University (6,066.68 points), Wuhan University (4,395.64 points), Nanjing University (4,261.28 points), Xi’an Jiaotong University (3,636.11 points), Central South University (3,312.51 points) and Nankai University (3,244.78 points). In addition, Peking University received more Ministry of Education awards for excellence in the humanities and social sciences than any other university in the country.

4) First Place for Specific Fields of Study: Peking University Wins Again
The writers of Picking your University and Choosing your Major – Guide to Filling in the 2011 College Entrance Exam carefully ranked each university’s program in 258 specific fields of study. Peking University scored first place in 26 different majors of study, making it overall champion in this category. Tsinghua University (second place) was number 1 for 21 different fields of study, and Zhejiang University (third) was the best school for 13 different majors. The fourth-tenth place winners were: Beijing Normal University (fourth with 9 field of study being ranked No. 1 in China), Shanghai Jiaotong University,  China Agricultural University and Renmin University (tied for fifth place, each listed as the best place to study eight different majors), Nanjing University (eighth, with 6 majors being ranked No. 1 in China ), Harbin Institute of Technology and the Communication University of China (tied for ninth place with five majors being No. 1 each).

Source: sohu.com

Related links
World’s Top Universities Cast Their Eyes on China
China’s University Rankings for Top Graduate Students
Screening for “Radical Thinking” A Step Backwards at Peking University

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Keywords: Chinese university rankings 2011 top Chinese universities 2011 Tsinghua University Peking University Zhejiang University Chinese college rankings 2011