02/02/2018
Analysis reveals Chinese universities sending the most graduates overseas for postgraduate study
Summary:
Many Chinese universities have recently released reports giving details of their graduate outcomes. Analysis of these reports has revealed the universities with the largest number of students going on to postgraduate study overseas, which may be valuable to UK institutions.
The analysis – carried out by Cingta, a Chinese HE data research platform – covered 42 top Chinese universities included in the country’s World Class Universities and Disciplines project at the institutional level. 39 of these universities provided information on bachelor’s degree graduates who continued their studies at the postgraduate level, of which 36 broke down this data between students staying in China and going overseas for their postgraduate study.
The data on the percentage of students enrolling in postgraduate courses was unsurprising, with the table led by Tsinghua University and Peking University (PKU) – generally recognised as China’s top two universities. Over 81 per cent of Tsinghua graduates and three quarters of graduates from PKU decided to continue their education at the postgraduate level.
Meanwhile, the university with the highest proportion of students going abroad for further study was Fudan University in Shanghai. This was followed by Renmin University and Peking University, both in Beijing. At all three of these universities, over 30 per cent of students enrolled in an overseas university after graduation.
After taking into account the overall number of graduates, however, the university sending the most graduates abroad for postgraduate study was Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, with Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou taking second place. In total, six universities sent 1,000 or more students overseas.
The table below gives a complete list of the 36 universities for which overseas study data is available, sorted by the total number of graduates going overseas for postgraduate courses:
|
University |
Bachelor's Degree Graduates |
% progressing to PG studies (total) |
% progressing to PG studies overseas |
No. progressing to PG studies overseas |
|
Zhejiang University |
5,493 |
62.0% |
24.2% |
1,327 |
|
Sun Yat-Sen University |
6,910 |
50.5% |
18.8% |
1,299 |
|
Wuhan University |
6,850 |
58.7% |
18.5% |
1,267 |
|
Huazhong University of Science & Technology |
7,112 |
57.9% |
14.5% |
1,031 |
|
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) |
4,992 |
65.2% |
20.3% |
1,015 |
|
Shanghai Jiaotong University |
3,600 |
66.4% |
28.1% |
1,010 |
|
Sichuan University |
8,836 |
43.4% |
11.2% |
987 |
|
Renmin University |
3,045 |
65.4% |
31.9% |
972 |
|
Fudan University |
2,789 |
67.4% |
33.0% |
921 |
|
Tsinghua University |
3,119 |
81.5% |
28.8% |
898 |
|
Beijing Institute of Technology |
3,761 |
65.0% |
21.9% |
822 |
|
Peking University |
2,645 |
75.2% |
30.9% |
816 |
|
Xiamen University |
4,504 |
46.0% |
16.4% |
739 |
|
Nanjing University |
3,060 |
63.8% |
23.8% |
727 |
|
South China University of Technology |
6,223 |
36.1% |
11.5% |
716 |
|
Shandong University |
6,697 |
45.9% |
10.2% |
681 |
|
Nankai University |
3,252 |
59.0% |
20.9% |
678 |
|
Southeast University |
4,101 |
49.7% |
15.6% |
639 |
|
Dalian University of Technology |
5,608 |
47.7% |
11.4% |
638 |
|
Beihang University |
3,105 |
73.6% |
20.5% |
637 |
|
Jilin University |
10,043 |
44.1% |
6.2% |
627 |
|
Hunan University |
4,911 |
41.3% |
12.7% |
622 |
|
China Agricultural University |
2,742 |
60.8% |
19.7% |
541 |
|
East China Normal University |
3,345 |
46.8% |
16.0% |
535 |
|
Central South University |
7,916 |
43.8% |
6.7% |
532 |
|
University of Science and Technology of China |
1,806 |
73.8% |
28.7% |
518 |
|
Xi'an Jiaotong University |
3,607 |
64.3% |
14.3% |
514 |
|
Tianjin University |
3,945 |
55.0% |
12.9% |
508 |
|
Beijing Normal University |
2,455 |
62.4% |
19.1% |
470 |
|
Chongqing University |
6,758 |
36.4% |
6.5% |
438 |
|
Zhengzhou University |
11,877 |
30.2% |
3.5% |
419 |
|
Harbin Institute of Technology |
3,546 |
56.5% |
10.9% |
386 |
|
Ocean University of China |
3,716 |
44.8% |
9.6% |
358 |
|
Northwestern Polytechnical University |
3,585 |
58.1% |
7.3% |
262 |
|
Lanzhou University |
4,481 |
41.7% |
4.7% |
209 |
|
Yunnan University |
3,842 |
24.0% |
3.2% |
124 |
Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst East Asia
Knowledge of the institutions sending the most graduates overseas may be helpful for UK universities looking to prioritise their postgraduate recruitment activities.
All of the universities in the table above have been included in the Chinese Ministry of Education’s World Class Universities and Disciplines project at the institutional level, placing them among the country’s most elite universities. This means that their graduates tend to be educated to a high standard, which is linked to being better able to cope with the rigours of a UK postgraduate degree programme.
Sources
1. Analysis of 42 “world class” universities’ graduate outcomes (In Chinese, from Cingta’s public WeChat account): https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3mS3XPz8hvVHB6fckMLJlg
Related news
Japanese student numbers abroad recovered steadily
Leverage alumni for UK education value and offer scholarships.
Record-Breaking Gaokao 2024
Rising competition for Chinese university spots may benefit UK providers.
