On December 28, the Ministry of Education released the results of the fourth round of the national disciplinary assessment. Seven tier-one disciplines at XMU were given a rating of A; they included marine science, applied economics, chemistry, statistics, business administration, law and biology. 

In the fourth round of disciplinary assessment, XMU had three more disciplines rated among the nation’s top 10% and another three rated among the nation’s top 10% to 20%. The assessment covered all of XMU’s 52 disciplines in 11 disciplinary categories, except psychology.

Every four years, educational authorities assess the overall standard of first-tier disciplines with the right to grant master’s and doctoral degrees in the Catalogue of Disciplines for Academic Degrees and Talent Cultivation, jointly released by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education.

The assessment was inaugurated in 2002 and four rounds have been completed so far. The fourth round covered 95 first-tier disciplines and involved a total of 7,449 academic programs at 513 institutions.