Before determining whether “education is losing its value,” let’s first look at the national educational structure: only 15,467 people per 100,000 have a college education or higher.
According to the 2020 census, only 15,467 people per 100,000 nationwide have completed college or higher education — that’s roughly 15%. Meanwhile, 34,507 people per 100,000 have only a junior high school education, making this the most common level of education. On average, people aged 15 and older have attended school for just 9.91 years, barely enough to finish junior high. Therefore, a junior high school education in China is far from “sufficient” — it is simply the baseline level for most people.
Zero. All you need to do is glance at the numbers below.
The reference point for the seventh national census was November 1, 2020. At that time, 218,360,767 people nat…
Zero. All you need to do is glance at the numbers below.
The reference point for the seventh national census was November 1, 2020. At that time, 218,360,767 people nationwide had a college education or higher, while 213,005,258 had a high school education (including vocational school). The number of people with a junior high school education was 487,163,489, and those with a primary school education totaled 349,658,828. Compared to the sixth national census in 2010, the number of people per 100,000 with a college education rose from 8,930 to 15,467, while those with a high school education increased from 14,032 to 15,088. Conversely, the number of people with a junior high school education fell from 38,788 to 34,507, and those with a primary school education dropped from 26,779 to 24,767. The average years of schooling for people aged 15 and older rose from 9.08 to 9.91 years, and the illiteracy rate declined from 4.08% to 2.67%.
国家统计局、国务院第七次全国人口普查领导小组办公室 (2021). 第七次全国人口普查公报（第六号）——人口受教育情况. https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/202302/t20230206_1902006.html
Open source linkThese figures only indicate how common or rare a given level of education is within the general population. Whether it makes financial sense for any individual to pursue further education should be calculated using the method outlined in Section 6 of this chapter (“How to weigh the costs and benefits of education vs. working”). Also, note that census data includes all residents nationwide, including children and the elderly. The proportion of young people with a college education is significantly higher than these averages, so comparing one’s own educational level to these figures may overestimate one’s competitive advantage. Conversely, these numbers do provide solid evidence to refute the claim that “education is useless,” since they represent the entire labor force competing for jobs. The ultimate beneficiaries of this education are the individuals themselves.