This article tests effectively maintained inequality theory against the case of China. Employing Chinese College Student Survey data from 2012, the study elaborates on the rationale and causes behind the expansion of higher education over the last two decades and the impact this has had on the system. Rather than empowering disadvantaged students, the findings show that the expansion of Chinese higher education fails to reduce the inequity in China, in particular in providing low socio-economic status students access to elite Chinese universities and obtaining good positions in the job market.

Generative AI (GenAI) technologies have been widely adopted by college students since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. While the debate about GenAI’s role in higher education continues, there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding whether and when these technologies can improve the learning experience for college students. This study utilizes data from a survey of 72,615 undergraduate students across 25 universities and colleges in China to explore the relationships between GenAI use and student learning engagement in different learning environments. The findings reveal that over sixty percent of Chinese college students use GenAI technologies in Academic Year 2023–2024, with academic use exceeding daily use. GenAI use in academic tasks is related to more cognitive and emotional engagement, though it may also reduce active learning activities and learning motivation. Furthermore, this study highlights that the role of GenAI varies across learning environments. The positive associations of GenAI and student engagement are most prominent for students in “high-challenge and high-support” learning contexts, while GenAI use is mostly negatively associated with student engagement in “low-challenge, high-support” courses. These findings suggest that while GenAI plays a valuable role in the learning process for college students, its effectiveness is fundamentally conditioned by the instructional design of human teachers.

Studying higher education in 2020 has confirmed the difficulty of foresight analysis and need for courageous redesign of education fundamentals. This paper discusses the shift made by Tsinghua University into full online provision and considers broader implications for higher education. It articulates the emergence of global online higher education, and the capabilities underpinning this transformation. Drawing from the study of contemporary developments in China and the world, the paper concludes that now is the time for bold education experiments, informed by major useful university design.