Chinese universities are accelerating the restructuring of their undergraduate major programs. Majors aligned with industrial demand such as artificial intelligence are expanding rapidly, while arts and humanities departments are being phased out at a growing pace. The trend is driven by intensifying government pressure for restructuring amid severe youth unemployment.
According to local media reports on Wednesday, Sichuan University abolished a total of 39 undergraduate majors including animation, music and materials chemistry over seven years from 2019 to 2025. Shandong Normal University has also suspended freshman admissions for 25 undergraduate majors including human resource management and broadcasting studies since 2017. Communication University of China in Beijing, the country's most prestigious institution for broadcasting and arts, drew significant attention locally after announcing during last month's Two Sessions that it had abolished 16 majors including translation, photography and comics.
The wave of major restructuring is sweeping across Chinese universities nationwide. According to China's Ministry of Education, 1,773 undergraduate majors were abolished last year. The figure has set new annual records since reaching approximately 800 in 2020. Arts-related fields such as photography and visual design have been hit hardest, while humanities and social science majors including foreign languages, journalism and public administration are also being continuously reduced. Chinese media outlet Zhonghua Wang analyzed that "the number of majors being abolished is increasing due to worsening employment prospects."
In contrast, majors aligned with industrial demand are expanding rapidly. Between 2020 and 2024, more than 200 new programs were established in each of four fields: AI, digital economy, smart manufacturing engineering and big data management. AI majors showed the steepest growth, with 406 new programs created over the five-year period. Foundational education is also changing. Nanjing University introduced mandatory AI fundamentals courses for all undergraduate freshmen, and Fudan University in Shanghai is operating an "X (existing major) + AI" dual-degree program, expanding AI education across all academic disciplines.
