Major change offered for student choice

A program to ensure college students can study subjects they are interested in, rather than chosen for them, has been launched.

A trial period has gone successfully since last semester, Chen Chusheng, vice-president of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), said on April 19.

An online platform for the program is being established, Chen noted.

College applicants in China need to choose majors when applying for college. But sometimes students, for a number of reasons, are not able to study their top choices.

A second chance is being offered by universities, including Peking University and Wuhan University, to students to switch their majors after enrollment. USTC has been allowing students on campus to change majors since 2002.

"But in reality, due to limited teaching resources, not every student can succeed in changing their majors," Chen said.

In 2011, some 28 students in USTC failed in their attempt to change their majors, according to Yang Fan, a member of the teaching management faculty of USTC.

But since December, these students can study their choice of majors on their own and under the help of a professional team.

Even if they are refused by the target schools, these students can get a recognized diploma and certificate for the target majors from the university under certain conditions.

Some 25 professors from different schools and dozens of managerial staff members are involved in the program.

An online platform is being built, by which students can apply for guidance from the team and get to know how many credits they need and what courses to sit in to get the target diploma, according to Yang.