Shandong University in Jinan recently announced that 97 of its students will not be granted degrees due to their poor academic performance after frequent warnings, a move that has stirred controversy.

Under current policy, 150 credits are required to receive an undergraduate degree, which means that a student earning 15 credits per semester will graduate in five years. If less 12 credits or fewer are earned per semester, the student will not make it to graduation within six years, Zhang Shuyong, a vice dean for undergraduates, told the Xinhua News Agency.

A student who attends the university for six years without earning a diploma will lose his standing at the school, according to regulations from the Ministry of Education, Zhang said.

Among the 97 students, 16 students have already reached the six-year mark. If the rest of the students demonstrate a strong desire to complete their coursework, the university will ask students and their parents to sign letters of commitment and allow these students to continue at the university for one year under close supervision from school authorities, Zhang said.

Li Zeng (pseudonym), a senior at the university, is on the list of 97 students. He was working in a restaurant far away from the university when he heard the news, the Workers' Daily reported Sunday.

Li said he couldn't believe the university's announcement. Li comes from a poor family in a remote village. During his first two years studying at the university, his academic performance outshone many of his classmates, according to the newspaper.

However, in the years that followed, Li paid less attention to his studies and put more energy into earning money through part-time jobs, the Workers' Daily said.

Some observers are complaining that universities in China have high requirements for admission but then loosen standards after students are admitted. Others believe that many college teachers do not take proper responsibility for their students and fail to take good care of them.

"The university is acting within its rights according to national and its own regulations," Lao Shengkai, an education professor with Capital Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday.

However, in order to address this problem, the university should examine why so many students are unable to complete their study requirements and should work hard to improve teaching quality and management, Lao said.

He also said that students may be affected by various challenges, but that there is no excuse for them to shy away from their own academic obligations, he said.

Generally speaking, universities have the right to prevent unqualified students from remaining on their rolls. Xiong Bingqi, an expert with Shanghai Jiao  Tong University, told the Global Times on Monday that students also have the right to quit school, and that this is not necessarily shocking news.

"But in China, there is no simple method for a student to transfer from one university to another. If he leaves his university or is expelled by his university, he has to retake the national college entrance examinations to find placement with another university and get his diploma," Xiong said.