Will Online MOOCs Improve the Efficiency of Chinese Higher Education Institutions? An Empirical Study Based on DEA

In recent years, the increasingly fierce competition among higher education institutions (HEIs), the finite resources, and the enormous influence of the COVID-19 epidemic on higher education have made it especially important to evaluate the performance of Chinese higher education institutions. This paper utilizes the DEA-BCC and Malmquist index to analyze the efficiency and productivity of 34 Chinese “985 Project” universities in the period 2017–2021. The indicator system includes three inputs and five outputs, contained in Model 1 and Model 2 for comparative analysis. The results demonstrate that the COVID-19 epidemic has had a considerable negative impact on Chinese higher education, and has induced the reduction of technical efficiency and productivity. Setting up online MOOCs is conducive to enhancing the efficiency and productivity of HEIs; in addition, the efficiency mentioned varies noticeably among different university levels, and there is no significant difference in different university types and geographical locations.