Education isn’t a one‑time deal: self‑study exams have no age or prior‑education limits, while adult college entrance exams and open universities also offer pathways to upgrade qualifications.

Registration and textbook fees run only a few hundred yuan per year. The trade‑off is long‑term self‑study or part‑time classes; a non‑full‑time bachelor’s upgrade takes at least two and a half years. “Non‑full‑time” means you keep working while studying, which demands consistent effort over time.

Self‑study exams are governed by the Interim Regulations on Higher‑Education Self‑Study Examinations. Article 3 states: “Any citizen of the People’s Republic of China, irrespective of gender, age, ethnicity, race, or prior education level, may participate in higher‑education self‑study examinations as stipulated herein.” Article 20 adds that full‑time students at any school may not register. Article 25 outlines three graduation requirements: passing all courses, completing a thesis or practical assignment, and meeting moral standards. Meeting these yields a diploma; Article 32 guarantees that holders receive wages comparable to those of regular university graduates. The Higher‑Education Law, Article 21, likewise affirms the self‑study exam system. Adult college entrance exams follow the 2025 National Adult Higher‑Education Enrollment Rules, which target “employed persons and other individuals outside full‑time schooling.” Applicants for bachelor’s or associate‑degree programs must hold a high‑school diploma or equivalent; those seeking a bachelor’s upgrade must already hold an associate degree or higher. Full‑time study lasts four years for a bachelor’s and two years for associate or upgrade programs; part‑time study requires five years for a bachelor’s and two and a half years for the others. “Part‑time” again means continuing work while attending classes. Open universities operate under Ministry of Education guidance: registration is open, and students earn course certificates upon completing credits; meeting further criteria grants diplomas, non‑degree certificates, and even degrees where applicable.

国务院 (1988, 2014 修订). 高等教育自学考试暂行条例（第三、二十、二十五、三十二条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8080816f3cbb3c016f415d64e5236d（国家法律法规数据库）；全国人大常委会 (2018). 高等教育法（第二十一条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8080816f135f46016f20df64ec16c5（国家法律法规数据库）；教育部办公厅 (2025). 关于做好 2025 年全国成人高校招生工作的通知（教学厅〔2025〕6 号）及附件《2025 年全国成人高校招生办法》. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202509/content_7040877.htm；教育部 (2016). 关于办好开放大学的意见（教职成〔2016〕2 号）. http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2016/content_5067956.htm；教育部 (2007). 关于进一步做好高等学校各类招生管理工作的通知（教发〔2007〕13 号）：「普通专升本招生计划按不超过当年应届普通高职（专科）毕业生5%的比例安排」. http://www.moe.gov.cn/s78/A03/s7050/201006/t20100607_88782.html；中国政府网 (2020). 今年扩招硕士18.9万，专升本32.2万——毕业生就业帮扶发力，教育部副部长翁铁慧：「扩大普通高校专升本的规模，同比争取增加32.2万人」. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2020-02/29/content_5484774.htm；福建省教育考试院 (2026). 转发时引「教育部高校学生司《关于做好2026年普通高等学校专升本考试招生工作的通知》（教学司函〔2025〕53号）」. https://www.eeafj.cn/gkzsb/20260310/14437.html

There is another type of ordinary top-up program (Zhuanshengben) for fresh full-time junior college graduates. The publicly available document at the national level is a notice from the Ministry of Education in 2007, which states that the top-up program plan does not exceed 5% of the number of junior college graduates in the same year. Since 2020, the Ministry of Education has expanded the scale of the top-up program, with a year-on-year increase of 32.2 ten thousand people; the 5% threshold is actually no longer strictly enforced. The specific arrangements for each year are issued via official letters from the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education; for example, in 2026, it was the letter from the Department of Education [2025] No. 53. This letter is not released to the public, and the document number can only be seen in the documents forwarded by various provinces. The target of recruitment is determined by each province itself, and it basically only accepts full-time junior college graduates from the current year within that province, so the main text does not specify its requirements. Starting from the autumn of 2025, higher education continuing education is no longer referred to as "correspondence" or "part-time"; it is now uniformly called "non-full-time." Higher education continuing education refers to the category of adult education used to obtain advanced degrees later in life; be cautious of advertisements still using old terminology. Obtaining a degree and "which skill is more cost-effective to learn" are two different matters; see section 23 for the latter. For information on "fast-track certification" purchased with money and counterfeit certificates, see item 8 in section 23.