Photo: yz.gxnu.edu.cn

Several universities in China have recently extended their postgraduate and doctoral program length from two years to three years or from three years to four years, a move the universities said would improve the quality of master’s and doctoral candidates. 

The postgraduate enrollment office of Guangxi Normal University in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region recently announced that the university will adjust the length of some of their postgraduate and doctoral programs in 2025 in a bid to further improve the education quality of postgraduates. 

According to the office, the doctoral program length of the PhD students majoring in chemistry from the School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences will be extended from three years to four years, while the postgraduates majoring in educational management, modern educational technology, mental health education and preschool education will undergo three years of study before obtaining their degrees instead of the previous two years. 

Postgraduate program lengths of many subject teaching majors such as Chinese, English and history teaching majors will be extended from two years to three years. 

Apart from Guangxi Normal University, Shenyang Ligong University in Shenyang city, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, and Xi’an International Studies University in Xi’an city, Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, have also extended their postgraduate program lengths. 

Shenyang Ligong University released on July 8 an adjustment arrangement affecting the university’s postgraduate program lengths, confirming that the program length of multiple majors including the mechanical engineering, information and communication engineering, material science and engineering, chemical engineering and technology will be extended from two years and a half to three years. The university also said that the change was made to meet the demands of cultivating well-rounded postgraduates. 

Meanwhile, Xi’an International Studies University announced on July 16 the decision to extend several program lengths for finance majors from two years to three years, without any change in the tuition fee standards. 

According to previous media reports, multiple universities have adjusted program lengths for some of their postgraduate programs to three years. 

Some experts pointed out that different from other forms of academic education, postgraduate education emphasizes on specialization, proficiency and depth. The assessment on postgraduates also has higher standards. Due to these pressures, some students only aim to earn credits and neglect serious study and in-depth research. While some mentors whose programs have short durations and many students, lack the time or energy to provide diligent guidance. Thus, experts think that moderately extending the duration of study provides more space for the cultivation of postgraduates and helps to optimize and strengthen the training process, thereby achieving the intended educational objectives, according to China Youth Daily. 

Other observers think that prolonging the postgraduate’s and doctoral program lengths will allow students to spend more leisure hours in participating in social activities and applying the theories they learn on campus into real world scenarios. Moreover, due to the changing employment situation, prolonging study time can offer the postgraduates more time to find a suitable job. 

Prolonging the postgraduate and doctoral program lengths should not be a one-size-fits-all approach, and some students who are competent to graduate earlier than schedule should be allowed to do so as long as their education quality is guaranteed, other observers said. 

Global Times