Wu Shulian is an individual who created and published by himself the rankings for universities in China. Wu Shulian's ranking has caused significant controversy due to his excessive business operations behind the rankings and for-profit indicator system design of the rankings. The publication of the rankings has been criticized by many Chinese media, including Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, and Guangming Daily. The Ministry of Education of China strongly opposed the university rankings as it was based on the payment of "fees."

Published ranking

The annual ranking has been continuously released since 1996. Top 100 universities out of 2,236 colleges and universities (general/integrated ranking) since 2002 are as below, as well as 1996 ranking.

University (membership of C9 League/Project 985) 1996 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Zhejiang University (C9-985)43333333311 Peking University (C9-985)32222222222 Tsinghua University (C9-985)11111111133 Shanghai Jiao Tong University (C9-985)217764444444 Fudan University (C9-985)64445666555 Nanjing University (C9-985)26656555666 Wuhan University (985)2099888910787 Sun Yat-sen University (985)191011101012128978 University of Science and Technology of China (C9-985)10151511131177131617 Huazhong University of Science and Technology (985)755777898911 Jilin University (985)15889991111121212 Xi'an Jiaotong University (C9-985)512121412101012141415 Sichuan University (985)271310121113131310109 Harbin Institute of Technology (C9-985)811131314141414111110 Nankai University (985)2519191817171615161514 Shandong University (985)2314141515151516151313 Beijing Normal University (985)4325222019191817202022 Tianjin University (985)1818161616161718212220 Central South University (985)3216171718181919171716 Southeast University (985)921202122232020181919 Renmin University of China (985)4435282624202221191821 Beihang University (985)1422232323222322252727 Xiamen University (985)4224252221212123262323 Dalian University of Technology (985)1130262727252424222118 Tongji University (985)2923212426242625232525 South China University of Technology (985)3520242525272726242424 Chongqing University (985)3433313029282827272626 Lanzhou University (985)3341423233313028292929 Northwestern Polytechnical University (985)1226292828262529282828 East China Normal University (985)3936343332302930313333 Beijing Institute of Technology (985)5032363735333131303030 China Agricultural University (985)1329303130293232333131 Hunan University (985)3845434340343333323232 Northeastern University (985)2227272931323434464646 Zhengzhou University5144444439363535353434 Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics1752474544393636363736 East China University of Science and Technology3134353636383837343535 Soochow University6437393938353738423637 Nanjing Agricultural University4750504945424039403938 Wuhan University of Technology6338384242403940394242 Shanghai University4943455254504341383841 University of Science and Technology Beijing2640403843434242504951 University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (985)3756564849474843374039 Southwest University93917951514645414343 Northeast Normal University3658605958544943434444 Xidian University4653554746454446474545 Northwest A&F University (985)57495452495347494848 Jinan University8449515348444748545249 Nanjing University of Science and Technology3046464650485149484747 Huazhong Normal University5254575857555050455867 Weifang University55525555535551515453 China University of Mining and Technology2431333541414552538587 Nanjing Normal University7047485153525253645154 Yangzhou University7451545760575754444140 Huazhong Agricultural University6960585656566255616558 Northwest University9548535047465456626163 Ocean University of China (985)5464656059585657605756 Hunan Normal University6261616665606158596268 Beijing Jiaotong University5366677370626059525557 South China Normal University6165666261595960565962 Beijing University of Chemical Technology7586746966615861575655 Shaanxi Normal University8084837571676362666060 Nanchang University9771738868666563636361 Shanxi University80726464636464696870 Hohai University8581707169646665676664 Beijing University of Technology8159646874746766656465 South China Agricultural University8370756562696867827977 Jiangnan University101+101+101+94857368585352 Donghua University75868477827569555050 Nanjing University of Technology72636775707070778078 Fuzhou University69778379727271837774 China University of Geosciences (Wuhan)42374134656972727273 Yanshan University91798182757473737375 Henan University5997101+9387837774716766 Zhejiang University of Technology100929191888075747071 Harbin Engineering University9096897878797176817569 Hebei University82818681777677807880 Jiangsu University73717783817978757472 Shandong Agricultural University238780767673817993101+101+ Hefei University of Technology6879858786877880687176 Xiangtan University9889938990898581788382 Capital University of Medical Sciences63596163688282706959 China University of Petroleum (Qingdao, Shandong Province)4839414037374183858489 Yunnan University67697272788384797679 Zhongnan University of Economics and Law74627480768685869088 China Medical University62686367718786101+101+101+ Southern Medical University101+101+101+101+80888798101+101+ China University of Geosciences (Beijing)42374134918988898893 North China Electric Power University101+95101+100949289768184 Shanghai University of Finance and Economics85768584909090888283 Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications89941009285868491878781 China Pharmaceutical University101+101+101+96101+9792909485 Shandong Normal University659997949795919395101+101+ Heilongjiang University101+101+101+101+101+9694949291 Capital Normal University101+101+101+101+101+101+95929395 Shanghai Normal University989697101+101+9896959596 Anhui University959898101+101+9997101+101+100 Fujian Normal University7792101+101+101+101+10098101+101+101+ Taiyuan University of Technology798884808999101+99101+101+101+ Kunming University of Science and Technology839090959393100101+101+101+

Notes: Top 10 in 1996, 盘点1987～2005中国大学排行榜 (Summarily Counting 1987-2005 Chinese university rankings) The rank once tried category ranking in 1998. To list top 5, comprehensive universities ranking: 1. Nanjing University, 2. Peking University, 3. Fudan University, 4. Shandong University, 5. Jilin University, and technological universities ranking: 1. Tsinghua University, 2. Zhejiang University, 3. Southeast University, 4. Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 5. Xi'an Jiaotong University. However, many schools developed to be comprehensive universities soon later, including through mergers. Since about the year 2000 there were peaks of mergers of universities for several years, and one of the reasons for them is to become comprehensive universities. China University of Petroleum has two branches: One in Beijing and the other one in Qingdao, Shandong Province. The Qingdao branch is ranked among Top 100 (no. 83). China University of Geosciences also has two branches: One in Beijing and the other one in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Both branches are ranked among Top 100 (Wuhan no. 72 and Beijing no. 88).

Controversies In 2009, the leader of this university ranking program, Mr. Wu Shulian, was reported to have been involved in a fee-for-ranking scandal, involving universities being able to pay money to the ranking program in order to boost their rankings. Consequently, the creditability of his ranking came under criticism. The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China strongly opposes all university rankings, especially those based on payment of “fees”, a ministry spokeswoman Xu Mei said.

A study by an anonymous group from the Chinese University of Science and Technology showed that California Institute of Technology would fail to rank on the Chinese university rankings if calculated by Wu Shulian's ranking standard, which was considered ridiculous due to that university's international reputation as a leading research institution. This widespread controversy has greatly affected the credit of this ranking program and has frequently been reported on by the media. Wu Shuliang officially responded with paper in Higher Education Development and Evaluation addressing several mistakes made by the study, including failure to correctly use the ranking method, failure to show the calculation process, meaning that the calculations cannot be repeated, inappropriately publishing classified data from the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, inappropriate use of unavailable/non-equivalent indices/scores for California Institute of Technology constituting 78.79% of total indices/scores. Wu Shuliang's paper shows California Institute of Technology clearly ranks much higher than any of Chinese Universities using his published method with proper treatment.

See also Rankings of universities in China University rankings in China List of universities in China Chinese university ranking (Netbig) Chinese university ranking of billionaire alumni Project 211 Project 985 863 Program College and university rankings Academic Ranking of World Universities, by Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Institute of Higher Education. THES - QS World University Rankings, by Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds.

References