Many oppose college tuition increase

Many residents are opposed to increases in college tuition fees and want universities to reveal their financial situations, according to an online survey released on Thursday.

Roughly 76 percent of 2,083 survey respondents are opposed to recent increases in tuition fees, according to a survey by China Youth Daily and the consulting firm ePanel.

About 79 percent of those surveyed said they were college graduates, 8.1 percent are currently college students and 56 percent of the respondents said one or more of their family members are college students, according to the survey.

In July 2013, the Ministry of Education lifted a ban on tuition increases. Since then, a number of provinces, including Shandong, Fujian, Hubei and Guizhou; the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region; and Tianjin have raised tuition for public colleges.

Earlier this month, Zhejiang province held a public hearing on a policy to increase college tuition by 15 percent.

Authorities have reasoned that college tuition had not risen in at least five years and that many public colleges face financial difficulties.

In the survey, about 82 percent of survey respondents said tuition fees are too high, while only 0.8 percent thought tuition prices are low.

According to the government's regulation on college fees, tuition should be no more than 25 percent of colleges' average costs per student.

Several provinces have not heeded those rules. In the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the average annual tuition is 5,077 yuan ($824), or 35 percent of the average cost to educate a college student in the region.

Zhang Shaoxiong, a professor at Central South University, said higher tuition will stop needy students from going to college.

About 77.7 percent of survey respondents said colleges should publicize their costs before moving to raise tuition.