On July 19th, the Shanghai Municipal Education Examination Authority released the minimum admission scores for various university program groups in the 2026 undergraduate general admission batch for Shanghai. This batch is the most significant and involves the largest number of candidates in the city's annual college recruitment process. What are the trends this year? How have the score thresholds for different program groups changed? How appealing are the newly introduced majors?
Enrollment Growth Keeps Pace with Rising Candidate Numbers, Overall Admission Rate Remains Stable
Approximately 66,700 candidates participated in the 2026 Shanghai autumn college entrance exam, an increase of about 3,000 from last year's 63,000-plus candidates. Officials from the Shanghai Municipal Education Examination Authority stated that after releasing exam results on June 23rd, the centralized admission process commenced. To date, admissions for the "Strong Foundation Plan," comprehensive evaluation batch, zero-option batch, undergraduate early admission batch, and undergraduate arts and sports batch have concluded, enrolling about 13,000 candidates. The undergraduate general admission batch is the most critical and populous stage in Shanghai's recruitment cycle. This year, 816 higher education institutions (including 719 undergraduate universities) are recruiting in Shanghai, with 638 institutions participating in the general undergraduate batch. Notably, several universities, including the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Emergency Management, Inner Mongolia Normal University, and Inner Mongolia University of Technology, are recruiting in Shanghai for the first time. Overall, the increase in total enrollment plans for this batch is roughly in sync with the growth in candidate numbers. The alignment between program group subject requirements and the actual subject combinations chosen by candidates is high, effectively meeting the needs of both universities for student quality and candidates for their preferred choices.
In addition to more participating institutions, new majors are being added. Many universities have increased enrollment quotas in Shanghai for fields such as embodied intelligence, artificial intelligence, brain-computer science and technology, engineering internet, and the low-altitude economy, as well as in new engineering disciplines, new medical sciences, new liberal arts, new agricultural sciences, and interdisciplinary fields. This expansion fully reflects the distinctive training focus of universities and aligns with national strategic needs.
How Attractive Are the New Majors?
This year, Shanghai's "Double First-Class" universities have significantly expanded enrollment. Among the newly added majors across these institutions, "intelligence" and "interdisciplinary" are key themes. How appealing are these distinctive new programs? Fudan University has introduced four new undergraduate majors: New Energy Science and Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, International Organization and Global Governance, and Archaeology, which will welcome their first cohort of undergraduates this year. Shanghai Jiao Tong University has substantially increased its undergraduate enrollment quota this year while continuously optimizing its program offerings. The university has received approval to add five new undergraduate majors: Psychology, Robotics Engineering, Data Science and Big Data Technology, Marine Intelligence and Unmanned Technology, and Embodied Intelligence.
Tongji University offers 70 undergraduate majors and has introduced two new interdisciplinary majors with distinctive features: Future Robotics and Engineering Internet. The university continues to deepen interdisciplinary integration, focusing on key areas such as artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, healthcare, smart spaces, and intelligent construction. It has launched an Engineering Experimental Class (Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing) to cultivate future leaders in robotics and smart manufacturing.
Review of the data shows that the minimum admission scores for the program groups containing these new majors all reached 580 points or above. According to relevant regulations, specific scores for program groups with admission thresholds at or above 580 points are not publicly disclosed; this information will be individually communicated to candidates by the Municipal Education Examination Authority in conjunction with their respective high schools.
East China Normal University's new majors also began enrollment this year, with the university adding six new undergraduate programs: Computational Linguistics, Big Data Management and Application, Artificial Intelligence, Cryptography Science and Technology, Pharmacy, and Remote Sensing Science and Technology (Spatial Intelligence). Shanghai University of Finance and Economics increased its enrollment plan by approximately 4% compared to previous years, prioritizing the allocation of additional slots to its strengths and emerging fields such as Statistics, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Economy. The university allocated a total of 419 admission slots for Shanghai, comprising 100 for the comprehensive evaluation batch and 319 for the general batch. It also discontinued its Shanghai-based Tibet-directed enrollment plan, converting all those slots to the general batch and adding an extra 6 slots on top of that.
Furthermore, two majors within SUFE's Digital Frontier Interdisciplinary Experimental Class—Statistics (Frontier Interdisciplinary Academy) and Data Science and Big Data Technology (Frontier Interdisciplinary Academy)—were implemented under a dual-track enrollment system for the first time. A portion of the slots were filled directly through the national college entrance exam, with both majors requiring the "Physics + Chemistry" subject combination. These academy-based majors achieved a successful debut in their first year of admission via the national exam. Peng Xi, Director of SUFE's Admissions and Career Office, noted that the university has five program groups, with the "Physics + Chemistry" group having the highest admission threshold. Within that group, the admission scores for these two academy-based majors were among the highest.
Examination of the "Shanghai 2026 Undergraduate General Batch Parallel Voluntary Program Group Admission Scores" released today shows that the admission threshold for SUFE's Group (04) (the Physics + Chemistry group) is 571 points. Previously, Jiangsu province also completed its general batch admissions, where the admission scores for these two academy-based majors similarly ranked at the top within the Physics + Chemistry group.
This year, Shanghai International Studies University introduced a new "Cognitive Science Big Data" track within its Data Science and Big Data Technology (Engineering Computer Science) major, recruiting its first cohort with the "Physics + Chemistry" subject requirement. The released data indicates the admission threshold for SISU's Group (06) (the Physics + Chemistry group) is 561 points.
It is noteworthy that Donghua University added a new major in Integrated Circuit Design and Integrated System this year, conferring a Bachelor of Engineering degree. This program builds a three-dimensional curriculum system covering "materials-design-manufacturing," incorporates the university's strengths in materials science and its focus on flexible electronics, and establishes industry-education integration bases in collaboration with leading enterprises such as SMIC and Huahong Group. Simultaneously, the relevant college provides a continuous cultivation pathway from bachelor's to master's and doctoral degrees, with an expected further study rate exceeding 60%, aiming to consistently supply high-level talent for breakthroughs in key core technologies within the semiconductor field.