The Old College Try New to China

Old people can now apply to college. In China, that means anyone over 25, married or with kids.

Sweeping reforms aimed at raising the education level in the world’s most populous country is swinging the university doors wide open for those previously shut out for reasons that would be considered quite politically incorrect in the West.

Age discrimination is a byproduct of China’s long-standing policy to tap only the cream of the crop for higher education. The rationale has long been that older people and those married would have more distractions and be less able to concentrate on school.

Only about 30% of China’s middle school children go on to high school, and only about 8% of all college-age students make it to universities. Beijing wants to raise the bar to 15% by 2010.

China would still lag behind developed countries such as the United States, where more than 80% of the population over 25 has completed high school and a quarter of that population has a bachelor’s degree.

Under an enrollment expansion project last year, as many as 3 million new students entered Chinese universities--about 300,000 more than the year before--according to the Education Ministry. The growth rate is expected to accelerate as the government realizes education’s profit-making potential: College is no longer tuition-free, as in the past.

“There is a huge demand for higher education in China, but we have not been able to meet that demand,” said Xiong Qingnian, a professor at Fudan University’s Institute of Higher Education. “The financial reward of a larger student body will be immediate. But the drawback is that some schools might go out of their way to increase admissions, compromising the quality of the applicant pool.”

Limited resources have forced Chinese schools to select only those with the best chance of success, said Sun Chongwen, researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Educational Science. “Now that we are going through some fundamental changes, we need to break all the barriers. Age and marital status are the first.”

The only other time in Communist China’s history when older and married students were allowed to attend college was right after the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, a period of political chaos during which universities were shut down and students were sent to the countryside.

But the good news might have come too late for those who need it the most. With roughly three months to prepare for entrance exams in July, many college hopefuls are worried about missing the second opportunity of a lifetime.

“It’s been so many years since I’ve written a composition, I don’t even know where to start,” said Cheng Ying, a 33-year-old mother who signed up for the entrance exams in Shanghai.

But at least the composition will be in Chinese. Her biggest obstacle is the English test. “The listening comprehension is just impossible,” she said.

Cheng, the oldest of three siblings, gave up the chance to apply to college in 1988 to take a job in a steel factory where her father had worked. Both of her siblings tried but failed to get into college.

“I didn’t even get to try,” Cheng said.

Cheng gets up at 5 every morning, studies until 7:30 and then catches the bus for work. At night, she reads after dinner until bedtime. It’s tough. Her family is supportive, she said, but that’s about it. There are no cram courses, no tutors, no extra help.

Similar obstacles have discouraged all but the very brave from competing against high school graduates half their age. But as mature students gain a presence on campus, they have the potential to push for lifestyle changes previously unheard of in traditional ivory towers.

Educators are already scratching their heads in anticipation of new problems, such as married students needing to live on campus and pregnancy--which could get a single person expelled. Cohabitation and pregnancy are considered serious offenses in Chinese college dormitories, which are still run like military barracks. Strict curfews mean all the lights go off by 11 p.m. and everyone must rise for a 6 a.m. jog.