You are listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
The auditorium at the University of South China in Hunan province was crowded when hundreds of students gathered to decide their majors through a lucky draw.
The university said it has been forced to take the measure. If choosing a major is based solely on students' wants, some majors will be overcrowded and others will have difficulty enrolling enough students. Other colleges use the same selection method.
Not all of the department's 600 or so students have to rely on luck. The top 190 students in the department may choose their majors freely. Students who take part in the lucky draw still have a chance to switch with others before their majors are finally set.
However, critics say it's a sign of lazy governance at the university. They criticize the college for lacking a sense of responsibility, saying the college should not sacrifice students' chances of personal development for the sake of maintaining a balance among majors.
One student who had just drawn a new major said he thought it was quite fair. Students are encouraged to study hard to gain the chance to freely choose their major.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Seven Chinese mainland universities and five Hong Kong universities have ranked among the top 200 of the QS World University Rankings for the 2015-2016 period.
According to the latest edition of QS World University Rankings released recently, Massachusetts Institute of Technology retained the first place for the fourth year running, followed by Harvard. The University of Cambridge shareed the third place with Stanford University, while the California Institute of Technology came in fifth.
Seven Chinese mainland universities are among the top 200, with Tsinghua University at 25th, Peking University at 41st, Fudan University at 51st, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University at 70th.
Five Hong Kong universities also ranked among the top 200, including Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of Hong Kong, among others.