The Ministry of Education recently released a public announcement, stating that according to relevant regulations and the evaluation results of the 8th National Higher Education Institution Establishment Evaluation Committee, after deliberation by the Party Group Meeting of the Ministry of Education, it is proposed to approve the establishment of 32 undergraduate schools. What wind directions can we see through this list? From the perspective of school types, 23 out of the 32 schools planned to be established this time are vocational undergraduate institutions. This is not the first expansion of vocational undergraduate programs this year. As early as March this year, the Ministry of Education issued a batch of letters approving the establishment of undergraduate schools. Developing vocational undergraduate programs is an inevitable requirement for adapting to industrial upgrading and an urgent need to improve the modern vocational education system. ”Qian Guilun, Director of the Education Department of Anhui Province, said, "Holding undergraduate level vocational education is conducive to improving the adaptability of talent cultivation to industry demand, enhancing the employment competitiveness of vocational college students, and promoting the integration of education chain, talent chain, industry chain, and innovation chain." In recent years, with the acceleration of industrial upgrading and economic structural adjustment, the demand for high skilled talents in various industries has become more urgent. Accelerating the construction of a modern vocational education system, vocational undergraduate programs are an important part of it. Since 2019, the Ministry of Education has launched a pilot program for undergraduate vocational education, breaking the "ceiling" of vocational education at the vocational college level. In the "Outline of the Plan for Building an Education Strong Country (2024-2035)" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, it is explicitly stated to "steadily expand the number and enrollment scale of vocational undergraduate schools" and "build a number of high-level vocational undergraduate schools with distinctive educational characteristics". Under the promotion of relevant policies, the number of vocational undergraduate schools in China is steadily increasing. Statistics show that there were only 21 vocational undergraduate schools in China in 2020. Now, with the planned establishment of these 23 schools, the number of vocational undergraduate schools in China will exceed 80. There is both an increase in quantity and an improvement in quality. From the perspective of professional settings in vocational undergraduate colleges, most of them closely follow the actual needs of industries, enterprises, and markets. In recent years, by optimizing the training mode, strengthening professional construction and industry education integration, vocational undergraduate schools have been able to cultivate more high-quality technical and skilled talents. Taking Anhui Vocational and Technical University and Wuhu Vocational and Technical University, two vocational undergraduate schools planned to be established in Anhui Province, as examples, Qian Guilun introduced that "the two schools are good at engineering and have laid out a number of professional groups in the fields of new energy and intelligent connected vehicles, new generation information technology, intelligent manufacturing, etc. The professional settings match the regional industries by more than 90%, and the service regional development ability is outstanding." The list of 32 schools announced this time also includes 4 renamed ordinary undergraduate schools. The reporter learned that renaming is not only a simple change in the school name, but also an adjustment in professional settings and talent cultivation strategies. For example, Nanchang Institute of Technology will be renamed Jiangxi University of Water Resources and Electric Power. Liu Zuwen, Deputy Secretary of the School Party Committee and President, stated that this is an urgent need to implement the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and cultivate high-level applied talents in the field of water conservancy and power. Jiangxi is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and there is a strong demand for talents in the field of water conservancy and power. ”Liu Zuwen introduced that after the renaming, the school will optimize and strengthen the disciplines of water conservancy engineering and electrical engineering, actively connect with major projects such as the Poyang Lake Water Resources Allocation Project and Poyang Lake Ecological Control Project, serve key industrial chains such as new energy and energy storage, and provide strong support for the high-quality development of regional economy, society, and water conservancy and power industry. Experts believe that overall, the planned establishment of 32 undergraduate schools is in line with the needs of economic and social development. This is not only the rightful purpose of building a high-quality education system in China, but also demonstrates the broad prospects and strong vitality of education in serving economic and social development. Currently, the college entrance examination is approaching, and several newly established undergraduate schools are about to enroll students this year, providing candidates with a wider range of choices. Regarding this, experts also suggest that students should pay attention to finding their own advantages when applying for schools, and make rational choices based on factors such as the job market. (New Society)