The undergraduate enrollment expansion at multiple "Double First-Class" universities: what signal does it send?
The college entrance examination in 2026 has just ended, and another "Double First-Class" university has announced an enrollment expansion.
On June 10, Southeast University released the "In - depth Interpretation of Southeast University's Undergraduate Enrollment Policy in 2026". The content shows that in 2026, Southeast University plans to add 600 undergraduate students, with the total enrollment scale reaching 4,825. In 2026, three new undergraduate majors will be added: Low - altitude Technology and Engineering, Medical Devices and Equipment Engineering, and Systems Science and Engineering.
Not long ago, the Undergraduate Enrollment Office of Nanjing University also announced that Nanjing University will expand its undergraduate enrollment by 300 students in 2026. The enrollment focuses on the cutting - edge interdisciplinary disciplines urgently needed by the country, always adheres to the original aspiration of "running the best undergraduate education in China", and continuously provides strong impetus and solid support for the "expansion of high - quality undergraduate education".
According to incomplete statistics, recently, many "Double First - Class" universities have clearly announced their undergraduate enrollment expansion plans for 2026. In addition to Southeast University and Nanjing University, Xi'an Jiaotong University's undergraduate enrollment plan will increase by 360 compared with last year, Lanzhou University will expand by 300 students, and Nankai University, Shandong University, Sun Yat - sen University, China Agricultural University, etc. will expand their enrollments by 100 or more students.
The news from "Industry and Information Technology Micro - Bulletin" also revealed that in 2026, the seven universities directly under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will rely on high - quality disciplinary resources, continuously innovate the education model, set up various characteristic experimental classes and talent cultivation projects, focus on cultivating high - quality innovative talents, and the undergraduate enrollment plan will increase by more than 1,200.
Previously, the Government Work Report of the State Council has clearly proposed to continuously expand the enrollment scale of high - quality undergraduate education.
The Outline of the 15th Five - Year Plan also mentions promoting the improvement of quality and expansion of higher education. Expand the enrollment scale of high - quality undergraduate education and the scale of postgraduate training in an orderly manner, mainly focusing on science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine majors. The gross enrollment ratio of higher education will reach 65%, and the proportion of undergraduate enrollment and the proportion of postgraduate education in the total number of higher education students will be steadily increased.
Why promote the "expansion of high - quality undergraduate education"?
At the beginning of this year, the "Investigation Report on the Allocation and Use of Fiscal Higher Education Funds" released by the "China NPC Website" pointed out that from the perspective of resource distribution, among the more than 40 million postgraduate students and undergraduates (both general and vocational) in the country, students from "Double First - Class" universities account for about 10%. There is a large gap between the supply of high - quality resources and the needs of the people.
Previously, Li Liguo, the director of the Research Center for Educational Strategic Decision - Making and National Planning of the Ministry of Education - Tsinghua University, also wrote an article pointing out that the talent cultivation structure of China's higher education shows a significant "pyramid shape", that is, the proportion of vocational colleges is relatively high, while the proportion of postgraduate education and "Double First - Class" universities is relatively low. During the 15th Five - Year Plan period, in the face of the peak of the college - age population entering higher education and the needs of the scientific and technological revolution and industrial upgrading, it is necessary to adjust and optimize the talent cultivation structure of China's higher education, changing from the current "pyramid shape" to an "olive shape".
In fact, the "expansion of high - quality undergraduate education" is not simply an increase in quantity, but a selective and focused structural adjustment. This is particularly evident in the enrollment expansion of "Double First - Class" universities - their focus is on cutting - edge technologies and emerging interdisciplinary fields, which are closely related to social needs.
For example, Shanghai Jiao Tong University previously said that this year, the school's undergraduate enrollment plan will increase significantly, with more hardcore science and technology majors and "special classes" being offered for enrollment; the enrollment expansion of Xi'an Jiaotong University mainly focuses on fields urgently needed by the country, such as embodied intelligence, intelligent manufacturing, energy, energy storage, and electrical engineering; the newly added majors of embodied intelligence and aircraft airworthiness technology at Beihang University are also expected to recruit students this year.
According to the goals set in the Outline of the 15th Five - Year Plan, support will be provided for the construction of new campuses of several "Double First - Class" universities, the undergraduate enrollment of "Double First - Class" universities will increase by more than 100,000, about 200 high - level application - oriented undergraduate universities will be built, and a number of high - quality characteristic disciplines and majors will be built in qualified universities.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Urban Evolution Theory", author: Liu Yanmei. Republished by 36Kr with permission.