In late July, many private universities — including some schools located in the southern Guangdong province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the central Hunan province, the eastern Shandong province, and the northwestern Shaanxi province — lowered their admission thresholds in a bid to attract students, yet still fell short of meeting enrollment targets.
Domestic media reported that at some schools in Guangdong and Guangxi, this year’s minimum undergraduate admission score was cut by as much as 30 points — nearly three times that of last year. Of the former’s 23 private undergraduate institutions, 14 failed to meet their enrollment quotas, leaving a combined shortfall of more than 25,000 seats. Some schools in the province reported more than 2,000 unfilled positions — the highest shortfall in recent years.
