Chinese vocational colleges are being compromised because the central government is moving more of its educational resources to the top-tier universities. Although vocational college enrollments have slowed in the increasingly high-tech eastern provinces, colleges in the western part of the country are poised for increased enrollments to address regional employment demands. The recent global economic downturn has put the future of Chinese vocational colleges, at least in the short term, in doubt--and much of the new transportation infrastructure necessary for the west has for the moment been left incomplete. In response to increased government support of top-tier universities, the once burgeoning vocational college movement seems in limbo. This article argues that for the economic future of China, the country must support a diversity of institutions.