In 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded, only 117,000 students were attending colleges or universities. But the number soared to 37 million in 2015 - the world's largest student population.

Now, one in every five college students is in China, according to the country's first quality report on higher education, which was released by the Ministry of Education on Thursday.

China's higher education system, one of the largest in the world, has evolved quickly and contributed greatly to the country's development during the past seven decades, the report said.