Measures to equalize the playing field have also been taken with plans to adjust the allocation of enrollment quotas in order to increase enrollment rates in central, western and populous regions, Du said.

The current quota requires all universities admit a flat number of students from non-local provinces each year.

But students from heavily populated provinces, such Shandong and Henan, complain this makes competition too fierce, with tens of thousands of graduates vying for a limited number of slots for local students.

Du says making quotas more transparent is an important step in revising the quota system.

However, Central and western students will continue to enjoy preferable policies in college enrollment, he said, adding that roughly 200,000 students have benefited from the support plan this year.

The government will also help more students from poorer provinces get into top universities.

Although the percentage of village students entering universities is similar to urban students, much fewer village students go to top schools due to a gap in quality of primary and high school education.

One new reform requires first-class universities allocate a certain quota for students from poor, remote and ethnic minority regions. The new policy saw enrollment rates from rural areas grow by 11.4 percent year on year, with roughly 50,000 students from across 832 impoverished counties in 22 provinces gaining entrance to top universities, Du said.

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