Despite the potential of tertiary education to generate higher incomes and close the poverty gap within and between countries, it is still a challenge for many countries to ensure equity and quality in their higher education admissions. Compared to the more privileged, students from marginalized backgrounds face inequitable inputs that restrict…

The Chinese government has implemented a series of special admission policies in recent years to increase access to elite universities for disadvantaged students from rural areas and less developed inland regions. Using administrative data of 1996-2015 freshman cohorts and survey data of a 2014 freshman cohort at X University in the eastern China,…

Analysis of in-depth, qualitative interviews with students, faculty, and administrators shows that Chinese minorities face substantial obstacles in higher education access. The article identifies several factors that limit ethnic minority student access--including background education, limited government funding, and low entrance examination…