Moreover, by endorsing the listed "key universities" with State credit, the two programs have created a craze among high school students to get admitted to such institutions at all cost. Many students have accepted majors, not out of choice or for better job prospects, but because they can get into a "key university".

No wonder, graduates of certain "key universities" are finding it more difficult to land a job. According to 21st Century Education Research Institute data, the average starting salary of "211" and "985" university graduates this year is 3,157 yuan ($510), while that of higher vocational college graduates is 3,291 yuan. Besides, the initial employment rate of "key university" graduates is also lower.

Apart from the over-expansion of majors without enough market demand, another reason for the widening education gap is universities' focus on recruiting renowned scholars, publishing papers and making profits in order to get enlisted in the two programs, that is, doing everything except raising the quality of education, something students need most.

Now, senior education officials say the two programs will no longer be used as a reference point for national programs and investments. That would be the first measure to help universities overcome the odds and concentrate more on improving the quality of education.

Higher education is extremely popular in China. According to official figures, 34.5 percent of the population between 18 and 22 years was in college in 2013, while 76 percent of the high-school graduates had applied to take the college entrance exam. University students are no longer elites. They are workers. So the higher education system should be changed to meet their demands.

It is time the "211" and "985" programs changed, and a more just mechanism of allocating State funds, which respects the diversity of colleges and offers impartial support to all, is established.

The author is a research scholar at Peking Normal University.