Abstract: The undergraduate program of physical education in private colleges and universities in China has developed rapidly along with the expansion of private higher education, and has become an important subsystem of the private higher education system in China. Based on the general system theory and the basic theory of higher education, the study adopts the methods of questionnaire survey and interview to explore the realistic dilemmas in the development of undergraduate physical education programs in private colleges and universities and the ways to alleviate the dilemmas, aiming at bring out the potential of undergraduate physical education programs in private colleges and universities, and providing theoretical references for the educational administrative departments or the running of related programs in private colleges and universities. The study concludes that the undergraduate physical education programs in private colleges and universities have gained rich experience, but at the same time, it is faced with multiple realistic dilemmas, such as the positioning of undergraduate programs needs to be clarified, the training system needs to be innovated, the curricular needs to be optimized, the faculty needs to be improved, and the teaching conditions need to be upgraded. The study puts forward the ways to alleviate the dilemmas, such as clarifying the positioning of undergraduate programs, improving the training system, optimizing the curriculum, strengthening the practical teaching, deepening the attraction and training of teachers, enhancing the professional identity, and increasing the investment in funding and expanding the high-quality bases.

Key words: private colleges and universities, undergraduate physical education program, professional development, dilemmas and countermeasures