Chinese students riot over diploma changes

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago

SHANGHAI, China - College students in central China smashed offices and set fires in a riot sparked by administrative changes that made their diplomas less prestigious, students and school administrators said Monday.

Students said police with water cannons had moved onto the campus of Shengda Economics, Trade and Management College in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province. It was unclear if there were any clashes.

Zhengzhou police and local government and education officials said they had no details of the weekend protests or could not comment without permission from Communist Party officials.

"The problem is the students aren‘t being coherent. We don‘t really know what they want," the official said by telephone. He refused to give his name.

Many families go into massive debt to send children to a university, and a huge expansion in higher education has led to white-hot competition for jobs, making a degree‘s prestige ever more important.

However, while students graduating this year will receive Zhengzhou degrees, those graduating next year will only receive Shengda degrees, said students who e-mailed The Associated Press and posted comments on an online school bulletin board that was later shut down.

Parents, many of them poor farmers, apparently had been willing to pay Shengda‘s relatively high $1,250 annual tuition because they believed their children would receive Zhengzhou University degrees.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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