In a first, more postgrads than undergrads are set to graduate in Beijing this year

City’s universities have expanded graduate admissions and more students are seeking higher degrees due to difficulty finding work, expert says

Across China, a record high of 11.6 million people are expected to graduate from university in 2023, according to education official

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Significantly fewer graduates from Beijing universities went abroad in the past three years while the number of Chinese students returning from overseas for work went up, an official says. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 8:30pm, 20 Mar 2023Updated: 8:49pm, 20 Mar 2023

For the first time, more PhD and master’s students are set to graduate in Beijing this year than undergraduates, according to an education official.

Su Xiuli, deputy head of a careers guidance centre affiliated with the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, also said that around 285,000 students were expected to graduate from universities in the Chinese capital this year.

She made the remarks in an interview with state newspaper The Beijing News on Saturday.

Su said that across the nation, the number of university graduates was expected to reach 11.6 million in 2023 – a record high.

She also said the proportion of graduates from Beijing universities going abroad had significantly fallen between 2020 and 2022 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, while the number of Chinese students returning from overseas for work had gone up in that period.

“The employment situation for this year’s [graduates] is still very tough,” Su was quoted as saying.

People attend a job fair in Beijing in August. About one in five young people are unemployed in China. Photo: AFP

But Xiong Bingqi, head of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said the situation in Beijing did not reflect the overall picture in Chinese universities.

In a first, more postgrads than undergrads are set to graduate in Beijing this year

City’s universities have expanded graduate admissions and more students are seeking higher degrees due to difficulty finding work, expert says Across China, a record high of 11.6 million people are expected to graduate from university in 2023, according to education official

City’s universities have expanded graduate admissions and more students are seeking higher degrees due to difficulty finding work, expert says

Across China, a record high of 11.6 million people are expected to graduate from university in 2023, according to education official