China's Academic Degree System

China's academic degrees cover bachelor, master and doctor degrees.Disciplines include philosophy, economics, law (including politics, sociology, ethnology, etc.), mathematics, pedagogy (including sports science), literature (including linguistics, arts science, and library science), history, natural science, engineering science, medicine, management science and military science.

The length of full-time undergraduate education is four or five school years… The time is seven or eight years in some medical universities and professional schools of higher education.Vocational technical schools of higher education cover two or three years.

The length of Master’s degree is two or three years with an entry age normally at no more than 40.The length of PhD courses is usually three years with an entry age normally at no more than 45.

In China, the institutions that implement higher education include universities, colleges and professional institutes of higher education, with the latter undertaking teaching, scientific research, and social services.Chinese universities are divided into several categories: some coming directly under the Ministry of Education, others being run by provincial autonomous regions and municipal governments while others are run by local city councils.

China's full-time institutions of higher education have two semesters in a year (three semesters in some colleges).The first semester begins in early September, while the second is in mid-February. A semester usually lasts about 20 weeks, with students having five days of study every week. All the institutes have winter and summer vacations.