Current Situation of Chinese higher education

General Study Program (GSP): Overview

General Study Program (Canadian Curricula) (hereinafter referred to as GSP), a program provided by Canadian National Education Exchange Center (CNEEC) and its cooperative universities in China, is a supplement to insufficient Chinese degree education. The GSP is designed for students who intend to undertake further study towards undergraduate degrees in Canada. The objective of the GSP is to reduce obstacles for Chinese students in obtaining international education while at the same time creating a supplementary pool of qualified students from which Canadian universities can complement their international student recruitment.

It brings Chinese higher education more in line with international practices, helps it become higher education at international standards, and provides students who want to study abroad with a reliable and high-quality way to do so. The GSP is subordinated directly to the university that CNEEC cooperates with and is a colleague of this university. Relying on the faculties in Chinese universities, the GSP is supervised by the leadership in cooperative universities and the CNEEC, employs a higher education system and standards used by Canadian universities, and offers 2 years towards bachelor’s degree education at international standards. The GSP is currently operating in Shandong University and Southwest Jiaotong University.

Students at the GSP study for two years in China during which time the GSP provides students with university undergraduate level courses in two disciplines: Science/Engineering and Economics/Commerce. The students study general and prerequisite courses towards an internationally accepted bachelor’s degree. Each discipline includes 20 basic transferable courses amounting to 60 credits towards their majors. Furthermore, the GSP employs original English-version textbooks for all the courses that are taught both in English and Chinese. The examinations and students’ assignment are all in English and the syllabus, course descriptions, examination methods, and grading principles all comply with international standards. Simultaneously, all of the students at the GSP experience continuous intensive English learning including listening, spoken English, writing and reading. After completing their studies at the GSP, qualified students are directly transferred into the third year’s study at Canadian universities. There they continue their education for the last two years, in order to complete the bachelor’s degree which is granted by the university he or she attends. Both the applications for Canadian universities and the student visa applications are processed and completed by CNEEC. Therefore, the GSP is a reliable and efficient program for students who plan to pursue further undergraduate education in Canadian universities.

The GSP focuses on the differences between Chinese and Canadian education systems and provides opportunities to students who wish to have access to higher education and have the financial ability to afford study abroad. Due to the twentieth phenomenon in China, the GSP attracts the “twentieth” students who do not make the grade in China, but are still very good students to the target universities, and cultivates the best of them. The acceptance model employed by the GSP, which is internationally standardized, avoids the unfairness inherent in the Chinese university entrance examination. In recruitment, the GSP pays more attention to students’ overall performance in senior high school and considers their scores of all subjects; performance in class and extracurricular activities, as well as the score on the university entrance examination (which becomes just one of the references). Students of high quality who have great potential are the ideal targets. In this way, the GSP helps many Chinese students realize their value and while at the same time becoming an excellent educational resource exporting to Canada.

Compared to other means of overseas study, and the drawbacks mentioned above, the GSP has following advantages:

It is reliable.
It is systematic and standardized higher education.
It is widely applicable.
It saves on expenses.
It is effective joint education.
It has high quality management, facilities and teachers.
It has promising prospects.