Universities barred from offering extra benefits to prospects

Universities are not allowed to luring students with unreasonable perks such as excessive scholarships or placement promises, the Ministry of Education announced on Wednesday in a notice regulating university recruitment.

Universities should not attract students with improper benefits, including preadmission contracts, large scholarships or promises that they can choose different majors after enrollment, the ministry said.

The notice was released after two prestigious schools in Beijing - Tsinghua University and Peking University - criticized each other in an effort to attract the top scorers on the gaokao, China's national college entrance exam.