China scraps 12,000 degrees in arts, humanities, languages, management; launches 10,200 AI courses: Reports

In a major overhaul in the country’s higher education, China has suspended around 12,000 “obsolete” degrees in arts, humanities, foreign languages and management-related fields, aimed at aligning academic training with the country’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and high-tech development goals, the South China Morning Post reported.

The move to slash degree programmes comes as China seeks to become a “global leader” in hi-tech “future industries” and solve a grave employment crisis that has left a large number of graduates struggling to get work, the report said.

Notably, Chinese universities have introduced 10,200 new degree programmes even as they suspended 12,000 existing ones, the report added.

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“Between 2021 and 2025, China’s higher education institutions revoked or suspended 12,200 undergraduate degree programmes while introducing 10,200 new ones, meaning that more than 30 per cent of the nation’s university programmes underwent adjustments, according to Ministry of Education data cited by Xinhua,” the report read.

As per the report, the cuts in the programmes in arts, humanities, foreign languages, and management streams were done as these fields are deemed “outdated” in China.

The move is also aimed at addressing the unemployment crisis, which has left more than 16 % of young people in China without jobs, while the labour market continues to be transformed by AI, it added.

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China aims to boost next-gen AI in real economy

Moreover, nine universities in China have also added new majors in embodied intelligence in alignment with the nation’s drive to boost the integration of next-gen AI in the real economy, it said.

For instance, the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology stopped admission for its product design programme for this year, it added.

“The rapid development of AI has hit product design hard,” said the graduate, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic. “Many core tasks, such as modelling and rendering, can now be handled by AI,” the report said.