IV. Limitations of credit transfer in higher education in China

Through the presentation and analysis of the above cases and the summary of credit transfer implementation models, it can be seen that there are some limitations of credit transfer in higher education in China:

1. The scope of credit transfer is limited

The limited scope of credit transfer in higher education in China manifests itself in the following two aspects:

First, cross-institution optional courses are usually jointly offered by several schools in close geographical proximity, so the scope of cross-institution optional courses available to students is limited to within a small area. Intercollegiate student exchange is also conducted only among HEIs that sign cooperative agreements and the free flow of students within a larger domain is yet to be realized.

Second, credit transfer in China is mainly limited to credit transfer between institutions at the same level or similar levels. At present, there is little credit transfer between institutions of different levels. For example, the connection between junior colleges and undergraduate institutions still has to be realized through examinations in many schools. This has limited opportunities for students’ continuing education to some degree.

2. Few types of credit transfer

At present, there are few types of credit transfer in higher education in China. First, the types of courses that offer credit transfer, aside from jointly offered minors, are mainly public optional courses. Credit transfer for specialized courses is still subject to many restrictions. However, to students, credit transfer for specialized courses is more attractive than that of credit transfer for public optional courses.

Next, since China is still somewhat behind in the area of recognizing students’ prior learning outcomes, credit transfer in higher education in China does not yet extend to Prior Learning Assessment and Recognisation (PLAR), which is a great deficiency in adult higher education.

3. Cross-institution course selection is available, but not cross-institution transfer

In China, credits obtained while studying at other institutions are only recognized by their original school, and are not recognized when students transfer to another school. If a student wants to transfer from one university to another, he has to quit and take another college entrance examination to make this possible.

4. The mechanism for credit transfer needs to be improved

Credit transfer in China is built on the basis of cooperative agreements of HEIs. The HEIs have explored aspects such as offering cross-institution optional courses and regulating cross-institution student exchange, and they have formulated some rules and systems. However, China does not yet have a comprehensive, detailed mechanism for credit transfer. For example, for which types of courses can credits be recognized, how to ensure the equivalence of course workload, how to ensure the correspondence of course content, and how to ensure the quality of transferred credits.

On the whole, the development of credit transfer is far from mature. Many detailed problems which need attention and resolution remain.

5. There is a lack of policy support at the national level

Credit transfer in China at present is mainly the spontaneous initiative of educational institutions. There is still a lack of national policy support as well as corresponding standards. Comparatively speaking, most implementations of credit transfer in foreign countries are guided and coordinated by governments or semi-governmental organizations, such as in the EU, Canada and the Republic of Korea. Otherwise there is legal support, such as School Education Law of Japan. China is still lacking in this respect.

V. Suggestions on measures to promote credit transfer in higher education in China

1. Suggestions on credit transfer implementation

1.1 Expand the scope of credit transfer to provide students with diversified learning choices and development channels

First, we need to remove geographical restrictions to give students all over the country mobility in learning. Next, we should break down the barriers between different levels of institutions, such as between junior colleges and undergraduate universities, or technical high schools and undergraduate universities. By allowing students to upgrade their education directly through credit transfer, we provide more channels for constructing the flyover of lifelong learning in China.

1.2 Expand the types of credit transfer to provide students with more choices in specialized courses

Cross-institution course selection internationally is mostly an encouragement for students to study with top experts in professional fields. For example, credit transfer in Japan encourages students to study cross-institution specialized courses to receive a higher level of professional training.²¹ Credit transfer in our country can also encourage students to study cross-institution specialized courses, especially the students who fail to enter top universities due to their college entrance examination scores. Cross-institution specialized courses make it possible for them to be exposed to higher quality education for their major during their university studies.

1.3 Expand practical models of credit transfer to support students' transfer to other universities

The purpose of credit transfer in Europe and the United States is mainly to facilitate students’ smooth transfer to other universities without repeated learning. China also needs to facilitate students’ transfer between universities by credit transfer.

1.4 Learn from international experience, recognize prior learning assessment credits

At present, PLAR is widely used in the field in higher education internationally. PLAR converts the knowledge, skills and abilities adult learners acquired through informal learning into credits, which makes it possible for learners to avoid repeated learning when participating in continuing degree education (YIN Shuangxu, 2012).²² This kind of credit, called prior learning assessment credit, is recognised by credit transfer systems in many countries and regions, such as Australia, the EU and the Republic of Korea, thus greatly promoting the development of continuing education and lifelong education.

PLAR in higher education in China today is mainly concentrated in the field of adult higher education (ZHANG Shaogang et.al., 2009).²³ In implementing credit transfer, if the credits acquired through prior learning assessment can be included in the scope of credit transfer, not only can the scope of credit transfer in China be expanded, but also it increases the participation of higher education in the system of lifelong education.