This book examines the directions of local higher education policy in contemporary China since reform and opening up. It involves investigating rationales and conceptualizing analytical framework of shaping multiple type-based local higher education system, including the local undergraduate universities, skill-based local colleges, technical-oriented local higher education institutions. This book offers an in-depth understanding of problems and strategies in regard to addressing complicated development of local higher education institutions in recent decades in China. In addition, this book also involves exploring local undergraduate universities in China, the current mechanism of local universities from the perspective of organizational transformation, the emergence of application and skill-based local colleges and universities in China, the vocational education development in China as one major type of local universities, the local technical universities' development in China from multiple perspectives, and the professional groups in local vocational colleges.

Jian Li, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of China Institute of Education and Social Development, Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University. Dr. Li received her Ph.D. degree from Indiana University Bloomington, USA. Previously, Dr. Li served as Senior Research Consultant for Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Inclusion and Diversity, and an Associate Researcher Positions at Project on Academic Success (PAS), Centre for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University, and Rural Education Action Project (REAP) of Stanford University. Dr. Li general area of scholarship is on the assessment of compulsory education. Within this general area, she has pursued four themes: compulsory education policy, globalization of higher education, higher education policy and management, undergraduate students' global learning performance assessment, faculty academic innovation perspective within higher education, and comparative higher education development as a framework for institutional research. Dr. Li has published over 60 articles, monographs, and book chapters and delivered over 20 workshops and seminars and offered more than 20 keynotes, peer-reviewed, and invited presentations throughout the USA and in Europe, Africa, and Asia.