SCMP: Chinese students join rat race to study abroad 🏃‍♂️💨 as job prospects dim amid slowing economy

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‘I want to open my eyes’: more Chinese students join rat race to study abroad

China’s college students continue to flock abroad for higher education out of dissatisfaction with the domestic education system, with Master’s programmes the primary choice.

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• China’s college students continue to flock abroad for higher education out of dissatisfaction with the domestic education system
• Applications to study overseas soared by over 23 per cent in 2022 from a year earlier, with Master’s programmes the primary choice for Chinese students

China’s college students continue to flock abroad for higher education out of dissatisfaction with the domestic education system and a desire to enhance personal competitiveness. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

After taking an international English proficiency test for non-native speakers six times in a year at the cost of over 10,000 yuan (US$1,387), Jennie Zhan finally achieved her desired score in February.

The 22-year-old, who graduated from the biological science programme at university in Fujian province in June, needed a minimum score of seven out of nine on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to pursue her postgraduate ambitions.

And in May, Zhan received an offer from Georgetown University in Washington to study bioinformatics – a field of science that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data – having opted not to take the domestic postgraduate yankao entrance exam
“I wanted to open my eyes, seeing different and various ways of thinking and lifestyles in foreign countries,” said Zhan.

Around 4.7 million students signed up for the 2023 national exam for postgraduate enrolment, with around 20 per cent of university graduates moving on to higher education amid pressure to secure employment.


But Zhan dislikes the ideological and political education classes and conferences that are mandatory at Chinese universities.

“I feel like my time is not being respected,” she added. “Homogenisation and formalism in domestic education are serious.”

China’s college students continue to flock abroad for higher education out of dissatisfaction with the domestic education system and a desire to enhance personal competitiveness.

This is despite Beijing’s strong support and investment in attracting talent and research development to compete internationally amid geopolitical tensions.
Since the reform and opening up in 1978 to the end of 2021, around 8 million Chinese students have studied abroad, according to the Ministry of Education, with applications soaring by 23.4 per cent in 2022 from a year earlier.

Master’s programmes remain the primary choice for Chinese students studying abroad at 81.2 per cent, according to the report released in March by EIC Education, a leading overseas study agency in China.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education also showed that the growth rate for the number of applicants applying for the postgraduate entrance exam slowed from 21 per cent in 2022 to just 3.7 per cent in 2023.

A dislike of exams, a flawed domestic education system and the decreasing benefits of a master's degree for future employment have been blamed for the phenomenon.

“To cultivate students, the most important thing now is to attract good students to get postgraduate education domestically,” Li Jun, a professor at the Shanghai Centre for Mathematical Sciences under Fudan University, said in July.

However, just like Zhan, many young people feel disappointed with the higher education system in China, driving them to study abroad.
“China’s postgraduate entrance exam system restricts students to applying for just one programme at one university, which creates substantial uncertainty,” said Jiangsu-based Blythe Lou, a third year university student in her 20s.
“But applying for postgraduate studies abroad without entrance exams allows students to have multiple options and flexibility.

“At least I will have more opportunities to study further,” added English major Lou, who is preparing applications for postgraduate studies in the UK and Hong Kong.

Many also said it is not worthwhile spending a whole year preparing for the postgraduate exam, which has a high risk of failure, compared with a more relaxing preparation process and greater chances of success when applying to study overseas.

Brenda Xu, who wants to apply for master’s programmes in communication and marketing in the United States next year, said that she will pay more attention to the content of the curriculum when choosing her desired universities.
In China, Xu has found that certain content is skipped if it will not be included in exams, denying students of the knowledge, while overseas, classroom discussions and after-class reading are more common and there is a higher tolerance to different views.

“If there could be policies in place to provide students more chances to fully understand what majors they like, including by choosing the major that they are interested to study for one year, or lowering the difficulty of cross-major examinations, it will give me more reassurance about the postgraduate education within China,” said 20-year-old Xu.

Chen Jianwei, an associate researcher with the Institute of Education and Economy Research at the University of International Business and Economics, said that the quality of most postgraduate education in China still has a certain gap compared with high-level universities in Western countries.
The US and European countries, though, still have the most top universities in the world.

Outflows to developed countries used to be very large considering China’s population, but they were severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic and tensions with the US after it imposed restrictions on Chinese students and their postgraduate work choices.

“Chinese seeking overseas diplomas or degrees tended to rise after the pandemic, but the inflows into the United States slowed,” Chen said.
“To encourage students to pursue postgraduate studies in China, the primary requirement is to increase the supply of high-quality higher education resources.”
Chen noted that the scale of foreign cooperation in Chinese universities can be further expanded to meet students’ needs for international education.
The hotly contested postgraduate entrance exam compels Chinese students to new ways to compete, including studying abroad, which could help them obtain better academic qualifications more easily.

The ultimate goal is to give students a better chance when entering the job market, where qualifications seem to be becoming less valuable and an economic downturn is making it even harder for young people to find a satisfying job.
According to a report in February by leading Chinese recruitment platform Zhaopin, two thirds of returnees chose to study abroad because they wanted to experience foreign cultures and lifestyles, while also broadening their horizons.
A third also attributed their decision to the fierce competition at home, much higher than the 21.7 per cent in 2021.

A record 11.58 million university students will graduate in China this year, but the jobless rate for the 16-24 age group hit a new high of 21.3 per cent in June. Beijing paused releasing the metric from July, citing the need for labour-force survey statistics to be “further improved and optimised”.
Lou is already considering whether to switch her postgraduate major to management to gain an advantage when looking for a job.
However, she would need to take the highly competitive postgraduate entrance exam for her new major, where she would be competing with students who have management experience.

“Nowadays, the employment threshold is getting higher and higher, nearly every university graduate around me will choose to pursue postgraduate studies,” Lou noted, who plans to work abroad for one or two years after finishing her postgraduate education to increase her competitiveness in the job market in China.
“If there are more job positions and higher salaries in the domestic market, it may alleviate this kind of rat race to studying abroad and keep more people within the country.”
Mity Liu, a computer science student, who will travel to the US for her postgraduate education this year, has a similar plan and is already applying for internships for next year.

“Maybe there will be more opportunities outside and I can find a more suitable career path for myself,” said the 22-year-old.
The US and computer science remain the most popular destination and major for Chinese students pursuing overseas education, according to EIC Education, but overseas job market prospects may not be as promising as expected.
Zhong Chiyu, a 32-year-old Wuhan University computer science graduate who worked as a software engineer in Los Angeles for around eight years, said technology companies have been laying off workers having overhired in the anticipation that the pandemic trend of working online would become permanent.

“The recent employment situation in the tech industry is not optimistic in both China and the United States,” said Zhong.
High tuition fees are also a key hindrance for Chinese students, especially when the domestic economy is slowing and many Chinese households are seeking to save money.
In the US, tuition and fees at private national universities have risen by 134 per cent in 20 years.
Out-of-state tuition and fees at public national universities rose by 141 per cent during the same period, while in-state tuition and fees increased the most, soaring by 175 per cent, according to the statistics from US News.