Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Regional Economic Disparities and Educational Inequality in China: A Problem–Analysis–Solution Framework for Higher Education Resource Allocation

Tianjun OuyangThe Pennsylvania State University*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

China's rapid growth in the quality of education has given rise to higher education at both the regional and national levels. It analyzes why economic disparity between regions still leads to unequal higher education despite mass participation and policy decisions. Based on both a structural and spatial viewpoint, it relates regional educational inequality with the gap in fiscal capacity, institutional dominance of elite universities, gain by path dependence, labor market selection, and spatial spillover. The results show that an increase in enrollment improves procedural equality but does not produce real equality of education or outcomes. Short-term budget transfers could reduce some quantitative gaps, but they are insufficient to reverse the gap in institutional capacity and educational returns. It considers a policy framework that focuses on measurable, high-quality development, multi-year capacity-building investment, regional coordination to reduce one-way siphoning, outcome-driven support to increase labor market returns in poor areas, and evaluation reform to avoid winner-takes-all dynamics. In general, a reduction of regional educational inequalities is based on linking higher education reform and regional development policies.

Keywords: Regional Economic Disparities; Educational Inequality; Higher Education Resource Allocation
Published: March 24, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.BJ32348
Volume: CHR Vol.105
pp. 79-86
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