Center for Higher Education Development of Xiamen University is a Ministry of Education key research institute for humanities and social sciences. Founded in January 2000, the Center for Higher Education Development of Xiamen University is the only Ministry of Education key research institute focusing on higher education research. It is consisted of three research offices: research office in high education theory and policy, research office in higher education administration, and research office in higher education examination.

The Center aims to attract talents and leads a trend with the pioneering spirit to fulfill its ambition to be the “think tanks” of higher education research in China, facilitating national higher education reform and development as well as boosting China’s higher education in a sustainable and healthy way. The center mainly undertakes three missions: firstly, conducting research on cutting-edged topics in the field of higher education, consistently playing the leading role and promoting the disciplinary development of higher education in China; secondly, carrying out research on policies of national higher education reform and development, serving as the “think tanks” in the decision-making; thirdly, undertaking studies on strategies for development among all types of universities and colleges at all levels, offering the theoretical support and service for universities and colleges’ content-oriented developments and speeding up the process towards high-level universities.