China's Ministry of Education released its evaluation of a variety of programs taught at the country's higher education institutions on Tuesday, saying that 75 percent of the programs in the top five fields are key State-supported courses of study at major universities, demonstrating the effects of State input.

The evaluation, which was conducted over one year, is the third such undertaking over the past decade by the China Academic Degrees & Graduate Education Development Center. Experts examined 4,235 programs at 391 universities and institutes, up 79 percent from the last appraisal, which took place between 2006 and 2008, the People's Daily reported on Tuesday.

"In recent years the central government invested heavily in these major universities. It's necessary to learn how much of a difference such input has made and what will be the next step for our efforts," Gao Celi, deputy director of the Graduate School at Tsinghua University, was quoted by the daily as saying.

Among the 95 disciplines in seven categories such as engineering, arts and management, Peking University boasts 16 programs topping the list, including philosophy, Chinese language and literature, and mathematics, followed by Tsinghua University.

"This official appraisal has massive authority and will put pressure on universities as they work to keep their positions on the lists," Wang Hongcai, a professor at Xiamen University, told the Global Times, adding that the results will also serve as an important reference for students and their parents when the time comes to apply for a major.

Global Times