Non-academic standards are the political and ethical requirements for degree applicants in the
degree-granting activities of the state and degree-conferring institutions, which can be divided into two categories:
political standards and ethical standards. Through empirical analysis, it can be found that since the Regulations on
Academic Degrees and the Interim Measures for the Implementation of the Regulations on Academic Degrees have no
specific requirements for ethical standards of degree applicants, or their authorization for higher education
institutions to set non-academic standards independently is not clear, the non-academic standards independently
set by higher education institutions encounter legitimacy and rationality crisis in terms of setting authority and
content, which triggers many litigation disputes in the practice of degree management. According to the general
principle of the rule of law, non-academic standards should follow the principle of limited right of school autonomy
in authority setting; as for the specific content and procedures, they should abide by the principle of proportionality
and the principle of due process. To safeguard the legal rights of degree applicants, it is suggested that in the
revision of the Regulations on Academic Degrees, the status of non-academic standards should be clarified, the
detailed provisions on non-academic standards for refusing to grant degrees should be specified, and the
corresponding relief mechanisms should be provided for degree applicants. |