BEIJING — The gross enrollment rate of China's higher education hit 57.8 percent in 2021, compared with 30 percent in 2012, said the Ministry of Education on May 17.

Over 44.3 million students are studying at higher education institutions across the country, the ministry told a press conference, adding that China now has the world's largest higher education system.

A total of 240 million people in China have received higher education so far, according to the ministry.

The press conference highlighted the achievements of China's higher education reform and development over the past decade.

China's higher education is at the stage of becoming universal, said Xie Weihe, a professor with the Tsinghua University.

In terms of innovation and entrepreneurship education, colleges and universities across the country have tailored more than 30,000 courses, and hired 174,000 teachers with professional backgrounds, statistics showed.

By the end of February 2022, China had more than 52,500 massive open online courses (MOOCs) with 370 million registered users, said Wu Yan, head of the higher education department under the MOE.

More than 330 million college and university students have received MOOCs credits, Wu added.