A diploma does not have to be settled the first time: the self-study exam has no limit on age or prior education, the adult college entrance exam and the Open University can both fill the gap, a diploma counts only if Xuexin («学信网») can find it, and do not sign up for a "no exam, guaranteed pass" class

If school did not work out at 18, there are still 3 regular routes: the self-study exam, the adult college entrance exam, and the Open University. The self-study exam has no limit on age or prior education, but full-time students cannot register. A diploma counts only if it can be found on Xuexin («学信网»). Once it can be found, the school cannot change it either. Do not pay anyone who says "no need to study" or "no exam, guaranteed pass."

Cost

Registration fees and textbook fees are a few hundred yuan a year. The price is long-term self-study, or going to class in your spare time. A non-full-time (studying while you work) associate-to-bachelor program takes at least 2.5 years. The hard part is keeping at it.

Benefit

The self-study exam is in the Interim Regulations on Higher Education Self-Study Examinations. Article 3: "Citizens of the People's Republic of China may take the higher education self-study examination under these regulations, without restriction of sex, age, ethnicity, race, or level of education already received." Article 20: "Current students of full-time schools of every type and level may not register." Article 25 states 3 conditions for the diploma: pass every course, complete the thesis or the practical task, and pass the assessment of moral character. Meet all of them and you may receive the diploma. This article also says: "The state recognizes the education of a person who obtains a junior-college (foundation) or bachelor's diploma." Article 32 states the wage treatment of a person who obtains the diploma: "A person who was not already employed, once hired, is the same as a graduate of the same kind from an ordinary higher-education institution." Article 21 of the Higher Education Law: "The state implements the higher education self-study examination system. A person who passes the examination is issued the corresponding diploma or another academic certificate." The adult college entrance exam is in the 2025 Measures for National Admissions to Adult Higher-Education Institutions. The people who may apply are "employed people and other members of society, other than current students of high schools and secondary schools of every kind whose education the state recognizes." "A candidate for a high-school-to-bachelor or high-school-to-junior-college program shall have graduated from a senior secondary school or have an equivalent education. A candidate for an associate-to-bachelor program must already hold... a junior-college diploma, a bachelor's completion certificate, or a higher certificate." "The shortest full-time study is 4 years for high-school-to-bachelor, and 2 years for high-school-to-junior-college and for associate-to-bachelor. The shortest non-full-time study is 5 years for high-school-to-bachelor, and 2.5 years for high-school-to-junior-college and for associate-to-bachelor." Full-time means leaving work and studying at school all day. Non-full-time means not leaving work, and studying while you work. The Open University is in the Opinion of the Ministry of Education on Running Open Universities Well. It says: "An open university admits by registration. A student who finishes a course and earns the corresponding credits receives a course certificate. A student who earns the required credits and meets the related requirements receives the corresponding diploma or non-diploma certificate. A student who meets the conditions for a degree shall be awarded the corresponding degree" (nationwide). Whether a diploma is real is in the Ministry of Education Measures for Electronic Registration of Student Status and Academic Credentials in Higher Education. Article 2 states that a self-study exam diploma must also be registered electronically. Article 5: Xuexin («学信网») "is the only website for querying the electronically registered student status and academic credentials of higher-education students." Article 19: after the credential is registered and online query is provided, "the school may not change the content of the certificate or the registration information." The red line for admissions publicity is a 2021 notice from the Ministry of Education and 4 other departments. Advertising for continuing education toward a diploma "may not contain false or illegal content such as 'no need to study' or 'no need to attend class.'" It also "may not contain a guaranteed promise, explicit or implied, about the educational result, such as 'get the certificate fast,' 'no exam, guaranteed pass,' or 'a refund if you do not pass.'" Institutions such as specialized colleges and research colleges cannot issue diplomas, and advertising may not mix them up with higher-education institutions that can.

Notes

There is also an ordinary associate-to-bachelor route for graduating full-time junior-college students. The public national document is a 2007 notice from the Ministry of Education. It says the associate-to-bachelor plan does not exceed 5% of that year's graduating junior-college students. From 2020 the Ministry of Education expanded the scale. That year's plan increased by 322000 people on the year before. Whether the 5% line is still in force was not found in writing. Each year's specific arrangement is a letter from the Department of Higher Education Students of the Ministry of Education. For example, 2026 is letter «教学司函» [2025] No. 53. The letter is not published outside. The document number can be seen only in documents forwarded by provinces. Who may apply is set by each province. In general only that year's full-time junior-college graduates of the province itself are admitted, so the main text does not state the conditions. From autumn 2025, higher-education continuing education is no longer called "correspondence" («函授») or "spare time" («业余»). It is uniformly called "non-full-time" («非脱产»). Higher-education continuing education is the kind in which adults later fill in a diploma. Watch publicity that still uses the old names. Filling in a diploma and "which skills are worth learning" are separate matters. The latter is in section 23. Paid "get a certificate fast" and fake certificates are in section 23, item 8.

Sources · 7

1. 国务院 (1988, 2014 修订). 高等教育自学考试暂行条例（第三、二十、二十五、三十二条）. flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8080816f3cbb3c016f…（国家法律法规数据库）；全国人大常委会 (2018). 高等教育法（第二十一条）. flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8080816f135f46016f…（国家法律法规数据库）；教育部办公厅 (2025). 关于做好 2025 年全国成人高校招生工作的通知（教学厅〔2025〕6 号）及附件《2025 年全国成人高校招生办法》. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202509/content_70408…
2. 教育部 (2016). 关于办好开放大学的意见（教职成〔2016〕2 号）. gov.cn/gongbao/content/2016/content_5067956.htm
3. 教育部 (2007). 关于进一步做好高等学校各类招生管理工作的通知（教发〔2007〕13 号）：「普通专升本招生计划按不超过当年应届普通高职（专科）毕业生5%的比例安排」. moe.gov.cn/s78/A03/s7050/201006/t20100607_887…
4. 教育部 (2014). 关于印发《高等学校学生学籍学历电子注册办法》的通知（教学〔2014〕11 号，第二、五、十九条）. gov.cn/gongbao/content/2015/content_2806021.htm
5. 教育部办公厅等五部门 (2021). 关于加强高等学历继续教育广告发布管理的通知（教职成厅函〔2021〕21 号）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-10/14/content_5…
6. 中国政府网 (2020). 今年扩招硕士18.9万，专升本32.2万——毕业生就业帮扶发力，教育部副部长翁铁慧：「扩大普通高校专升本的规模，同比争取增加32.2万人」. gov.cn/zhengce/2020-02/29/content_5484774.htm
7. 福建省教育考试院 (2026). 转发时引「教育部高校学生司《关于做好2026年普通高等学校专升本考试招生工作的通知》（教学司函〔2025〕53号）」. eeafj.cn/gkzsb/20260310/14437.html