Education

Hunan is a leading province in education, as described by the favorable saying "Hunan people are good learners." At present, priority is given to the development of education. A modern education system has been established in Hunan including preschool education, basic education, higher education, vocational education and adult education.

In recent years, Hunan has made notable progress in vocational education reform and development. For example, Hunan was designated as one of the seven national pilots in the ministry-province collaborative campaign to build vocational education reform and development hubs. Hunan has carried out a "Chuyi action plan" of vocational education, to construct three Chuyi high-level undergraduate colleges for vocational education, ten Chuyi high-level higher vocational colleges, and ten outstanding secondary vocational schools. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Hunan has given priority to developing about 30 high-level vocational colleges, 150 high-standard clusters of higher vocational programs, 60 high-quality secondary vocational schools, and 200 high-standard secondary vocational programs.  

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Hunan has achieved new milestones in promoting high-quality development in education, centering around accelerating the construction of an education powerhouse. Hunan's education system ranks seventh nationwide, with its enrollment rates at all educational stages surpassing the national average.

 
As of 2024, Hunan had 25,000 schools of all levels and types, over 14 million students enrolled these schools, and over 1.04 million faculty and staff. The total scale of the education system ranked seventh nationwide, and second in central China. The gross enrollment rate for preschool education in Hunan reached 95.86%, 3.86 percentage points higher than the national average. Compulsory education realized universal access and basic equity, entering a new phase of high-quality and balanced development. The gross enrollment rate at the high school education level reached 95.16%, 3.16 percentage points higher than the national average. The gross enrollment rate for higher education reached 61.17%, marking a leap from trailing the national average previously to surpassing it by 0.37 percentage points at present. Higher education has officially entered the stage of universal access.

 
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, 2,634 public rural kindergartens were established or renovated, achieving full coverage of public kindergartens in all townships across the province. A total of 101 Furong Schools were constructed and put into operation, adding 146,000 school openings for students. The "Xu Teli Project" was implemented in 100 county-level senior high schools, creating an extra 66,000 high-quality school spots to accommodate students throughout the counties. All counties and cities with a population of over 200,000 have established special education schools, with the enrollment rate for school-age children and adolescents with disabilities reaching over 98%. Access to high-quality higher education resources continues to expand. The number of undergraduate admissions has steadily increased, offering students in Hunan more opportunities to attend high-quality universities. Higher education saw a continuous rise in enrollment, enhancing opportunities for Hunan students to get into "good universities."

 
During this period, Hunan has proactively engaged in the second round of China's "Double First-Class" initiative. Fifteen disciplines at five universities around the province have been included in the initiative, both ranking eighth nationwide and second in central China. Capacities of higher education institutions in sci-tech achievement transformation have improved significantly. In 2024, the volume of contracted technology transactions of Hunan's higher education institutions reached 5.68 billion CNY, increasing nearly 300% over 2020.

 
Hunan has vigorously carried out adjustment and optimization of higher education institutions and academic disciplines and majors. By 2025, the proportion of adjustment and optimization of undergraduate and junior college majors reached 20.6% and 23.53% respectively.

 
The "Chuyi" project in vocational education has been implemented, ensuring Hunan's stable top-tier position nationally and first rank in central China in terms of core teaching indicators. The proportion of higher vocational majors aligned with industry demands reached up to 73.71%.

According to the annual Statistical Communiqué on the National Economic and Social Development of Hunan Province, by the end of 2025, there were 147 regular higher education institutions. There were 37,000 graduates from graduate education, 513,000 from regular higher education, 212,000 from secondary vocational education, 488,000 from regular senior high schools, 907,000 from junior high schools, and 899,000 from primary schools. The number of children enrolled in kindergartens totaled 1.363 million, down by 13.8 percent over the previous year. The enrollment rate for school-age children in primary schools reached 100 percent. There were 7,934 private schools of various types, with a total student population of 1.918 million. National scholarships and grants amounting to 1.86 billion yuan were distributed to undergraduate and junior college students, benefiting 862,000 students. National grants totaling 0.78 billion yuan were provided to 675,000 secondary vocational students. A total of 11.08 billion yuan was allocated to support compulsory education, and 0.64 billion yuan was disbursed as national grants to support students in regular senior high schools.