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liberal arts: law, accounting, and chinese language; science: computer science.

this is the university major that zhang xuefeng most recommends.

zhang xuefeng probably didn't expect that his recommendation of majors would not only influence the application choices of parents and students, but also affect the major settings of universities.

computer science majors are in great demand, and chinese universities are rapidly expanding their enrollment.

today, college entrance examination candidates were admitted to computer majors with high scores.

four years later, a large number of graduates flooded into the job market.

the expansion of majors makes the future unpredictable!

what we often call computer major is actually a type of major.

computer majors belong to the engineering category and include 18 majors such as computer science and technology, software engineering, network engineering, information security, and digital media technology.

an obvious change in professional admissions this year is that computer-related majors have seen a crazy expansion in enrollment.

data shows that in 2024, the national enrollment plan for computer-related majors is 435,000, an increase of more than 40,000 from last year.

growth of the number of enrollment plans for computer majors nationwide from 2023 to 2024 image source: yidu ranking

the growth rate is as high as 10%.

what does 10% mean?

the data on the total number of admissions to my country's college entrance examination this year has not yet come out. let's take a look at the situation in various regions.

anhui province admitted 524,000 candidates, 7,000 more than the previous year, an increase of 1.3%.

shandong province admitted 819,000 candidates, an increase of 28,000 over last year, a growth of 3.5%.

shaanxi province admitted 304,900 new students, an increase of 15,000 or 5% over last year.

it can be seen that although the number of admissions in various places has increased, the increase is basically within 5%.

relatively speaking, the increase in enrollment plans for computer-related majors far exceeds the increase in the number of admissions.

the number of admissions has been determined, and the substantial expansion of computer-related majors means that other majors will have to reduce enrollment.

this is a "targeted release" to computer-related majors.

there are two features of this "relaxation" that are worth noting.

from 985 universities to “non-key colleges and universities”, all are expanding enrollment in computer-related majors.

however, the extent of the expansion varies.

changes in the number of enrollment plans for computer majors at all levels of colleges and universities from 2023 to 2024 image source: yidu ranking

among them, the “double first-class” universities had the largest increase, reaching 14.69%.

the correct answer is that there are not many plans to expand enrollment in “double first-class” universities, but because the original enrollment plans were small, the increase appears to be very high.

the most noteworthy are the "other colleges and universities", which are neither 985/211 nor "double first-class", and are the "non-key colleges and universities" at the bottom of the educational level and the largest in number.

the enrollment expansion this time is as high as 13.04%, which means that most of the 40,000 additional computer-related enrollment plans are concentrated in "non-key colleges and universities."

in addition, according to information disclosed online, universities in shanxi and henan had the hottest discussions about this expansion.

for example, the software engineering major of taiyuan university of technology will enroll about 1,540 students in 2022 and 2023. this year, the enrollment will be directly increased by 300 people, an increase of 20%!

you should know that the total number of students enrolled at taiyuan university of technology is only 8,850, but nearly a quarter of the freshmen study the same major.

image source: qiushi magazine

the situation at zhengzhou university of light industry is similar. the three software engineering programs enrolled 1,010 students in henan. together with computer science and technology and network engineering majors, the total number of students enrolled in computer majors is 1,750, accounting for 40% of the total enrollment plan.

zhengzhou university of light industry's enrollment plan for computing majors. image source: college entrance examination on palm

so far, we have come to the following conclusion:

if the expansion of enrollment in computer-related majors is likened to "targeted release of water", then this water is "targeted to" "non-key colleges and universities" with lower teaching levels and regions where higher education is relatively weak.

what is the purpose of such targeted water release?

why is “targeted release” necessary?

or, we can rephrase the question:

why are “non-key colleges and universities”, especially those in areas with weak higher education, keen on expanding enrollment in computer-related majors?

this requires us to talk about the underlying operating logic of universities.

the mission of colleges and universities is to teach and educate people and conduct scientific research. under this major mission, they also bear two important indicators:

one is the score line, and the other is the employment rate.

the score line reflects the quality of students.

the employment rate reflects the quality of student training.

these two indicators, one in and one out, to some extent, determine whether a university is successful or not and how good it is.

in order to achieve these two indicators, major universities are racking their brains.

we see that every year during the enrollment season, college admissions teachers travel all over the country to compete for high-quality students.

even top universities like tsinghua university and peking university are fighting to win the top student.

netizens complain about the "talent war" between tsinghua university and peking university

fighting is fighting.

overall, the better the university, the higher the score line; the more economically developed the region where the university is located, the higher the employment rate.

therefore, the data on score lines and employment rates for "non-key colleges and universities", especially those in areas with weak higher education, will not look very good.

the teaching level cannot be improved in a short period of time, and the school location cannot be relocated at will. this is an unequal competition.

so, how can “non-key colleges and universities” “change their fate”?

the answer is to change majors.

when applying for college, many candidates face the difficult choice of "a bad major in a good school" or "a good major in a bad school".

for "non-key colleges and universities", it is much easier to adjust to a "good major" than to become a "good school".

by expanding the enrollment plan for "popular majors" and enhancing their attractiveness to candidates, this is a "tian ji horse race" between "non-key colleges" and key universities.

"non-key colleges and universities" use the "superior horse" of "popular majors" to compete against the "inferior horse" of "unpopular majors" of key universities.

when it comes to enrollment, “non-key colleges and universities” have a chance to win.

the same is true when it comes to employment. “popular majors” are easier to find jobs than “unpopular majors”.

computer majors can not only get into large companies and earn high salaries, but also retain the opportunity to take the civil service exam. they have become the "top horses" strongly recommended by zhang xuefeng and others, and have also become the "popular majors" sought after by parents and candidates.

according to the "2024 china undergraduate employment report" released by the mycos research institute in june this year, computer-related majors such as information security (7,756 yuan), software engineering (7,061 yuan), and data science and big data technology (7,014 yuan) ranked among the top in terms of income.

major undergraduate majors with higher monthly income for 2023 graduates (compared with 2019 graduates, top 10) data source: mycos - china 2019 and 2023 graduate training quality tracking evaluation

"non-key colleges and universities" naturally focus on expanding enrollment in computer-related majors.

compared with other engineering disciplines such as electronic information and electrical engineering, computer majors have a lower threshold for opening and do not require too many laboratories and related equipment.

especially software engineering, the content of learning is mostly database and software development, and it only requires a computer, which is very popular among colleges and universities.

in addition, tuition fees for computer majors are generally higher, which can increase the income of universities.

at taiyuan university of technology, the annual tuition for software engineering major is 16,000 yuan, which is three times that of other majors.

taiyuan university of technology tuition fees

at zhengzhou university of light industry, the annual tuition for computer majors is 12,000 yuan, which is not cheap.

in order to not only improve the score line and employment rate, but also increase income, "non-key colleges and universities" have started "targeted release".

netizens have mixed reviews on this "targeted release of money".

some netizens gave thumbs up and believed that more students should be recruited for majors with “good employment prospects”.

some netizens questioned that colleges and universities should not follow the trend and open such majors.

here, we come to a deeper issue:

should the professional settings of colleges and universities keep up with market demand?

in the view of zhengjieju, the professional settings of universities should be in line with industrial development and meet market demand.

industries create job demands, and education meets industry demands, ultimately forming a positive cycle.

the country has already set the tone on this point.

the "reform plan for adjustment and optimization of disciplines and majors in ordinary higher education" issued by the ministry of education and five other departments clearly stipulates that we must be guided by serving the high-quality development of the economy and society, and build and strengthen disciplines and majors urgently needed for national strategies and regional development.

the ministry of education and five other departments issued the "reform plan for adjusting and optimizing the discipline and major settings of general higher education"

in fact, in the past ten years, the dynamic adjustment of my country's higher education majors has been unprecedented, with the annual adjustment rate reaching nearly 5%.

the setting and adjustment ratio is so large, and the core driving force is the transformation and upgrading of my country's industrial development.

college majors should meet demand, but they should not blindly "follow hot spots" or "catch trends."

whether to expand enrollment and how much to expand enrollment, colleges and universities should consider at least three factors:

the first is to look at the industry and the total demand in the job market.

the second is to look at peers, that is, the total supply of similar universities.

the third is to look at yourself, to look at your teaching ability and level.

only by comprehensively considering multiple factors such as market demand, industry trends, and one's own capabilities, can the professional adjustments of colleges and universities achieve "resonance" with the development of the times.

examining the expansion of computer-related majors from the perspective of these three factors makes one worry.

this "targeted release" of funds for computer-related majors may bring a "flood" to the job market in four years.

although computer majors are known as "panaceas" and are needed in all walks of life, the employment rate has been declining after an early round of enrollment expansion.

statistics on national professional employment rates in 2024

now, the expansion of computer-related majors by 40,000 people will inevitably lead to an increase in the supply of talent and bring the risk of oversupply.

what's more, can the crazy expansion of enrollment in various universities in a short period of time guarantee the quality of education, and whether the students trained have strong professional abilities and can be recognized by employers?

if we expand enrollment in computer-related majors to attract high-scoring candidates but fail to guarantee the quality of education, it would be irresponsible to students.

what is more worthy of attention is the impact of ai on programmers.

nvidia ceo jen-hsun huang, baidu founder, chairman and ceo robin li and other industry leaders have repeatedly stated in public that the profession of programmer may be greatly reduced or even no longer needed in the future, as their professional abilities will be replaced by ai.

in fact, many simple programming tasks can now be completed autonomously by ai.

in the future, ai may have an impact on low-end programmer jobs.

today, college entrance examination candidates were admitted to computer majors with high scores.

after graduating four years later, you may enter an extremely inward-looking job market.

the expansion of majors makes the future unpredictable!

students majoring in computer science should make plans early.