BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A total of 37.79 million students received higher education across China in 2017, with gross student-enrolment at 45.7 percent, the Ministry of Education said Thursday.

According to a ministry annual report, China had 2,631 general higher education institutions last year, consisting of 1,243 undergraduate colleges, 1,388 higher vocational colleges and 282 adult higher education schools.

There were 815 graduate education institutions, consisting of 578 general colleges and 237 scientific research institutions.

The report also showed that the country had 255,000 kindergartens in 2017, increasing by 15,100 from the previous year. Gross enrolment for preschool education was 79.6 percent, up by 2.2 percentage points year on year.

Moreover, there were 2,107 special education schools and 177,600 private schools across the country, both of which saw an increase in numbers.