Admission Quotas in India and China: An Overview for Strategic Enrollment Management

Strategy is planning about survival in a tough and competitive environment, and strategic enrollment management (SEM) is about higher education institutions exerting influence on student enrollment to generate tuition revenue. Although the global environment of the 21st century provides opportunities for improving enrollment from various parts of the world, it also presents challenges and tough competition. Therefore, overviews and analyses of enrollment strategies and admissions practices pursued by higher education in various parts of the world cannot only be helpful for SEM practitioners to improve their enrollment strategies, but they can also provide background on international students and academia and support SEM practitioners in gaining competitive advantage. Admissions quotas are one example of admissions practices implemented in many countries, the most notable among them being India and China, which have two of the largest higher education systems in the world. India uses admissions quotas as part of affirmative action policies, whereas China uses quotas to control and manage enrollment. An overview of these admissions quota systems being used for different strategic purposes can provide valuable insight to SEM leaders.