BEIJING – Students poured into international office for interview to participate in studying abroad programs Wednesday morning, which has been one of the most popular programs on campus, as the school staff in charge pointed out.

“Experience in a different culture is attractive,” said Lin, a student who just finished interview, “the idea of meeting and talking with a variety of people all over the world also adds to its weight.”

Their voice also echoed with the changing trend in China for the past few decades, in accordance with Ministry of Education, this emerging market has seen 544,500 people went abroad for education in 2016, among whom 498,200 paid out of their own pockets.

One of the reasons lies in the significant inclination towards diploma deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Chinese parents tend to be more generous to support students financially, easing the burden of potential candidates of studying abroad programs.

According to a HSBC research in 2016, Chinese household regard education as one of the “best investments”: 81% of those interviewed parents are willing to get into debt to support their children through college education, and 87% consider postgraduate as an acceptable option.

In addition, as China’s GDP per capital has increased almost 140 times since 1978 (from 385 to 53,974 RMB), making those programs more affordable to a larger number of Chinese family. Combined with a willingness to invest, the growing middle class with greater purchasing power seek for better education abroad for offspring.

“Studying abroad helps students to adjust to foreign education system early and adds weight to their application for graduate school,” the Deputy Director of RUC International Office, Mr. Li, said. “And I believe this partially leads to a crowd in the office Wednesday morning.

However, students’ attitude varies. “After seeing enough Chinese students abroad, I feel that an American master degree depreciates,” Journalism student Fan Chenwei said. “To some degree, studying abroad becomes less attractive for me. That’s why I chose a post-graduate program in Beijing.”

Furthermore, studying abroad might not guarantee a promising future as the applicant dreamed of before their departure.

“When applying for jobs or PhD programs, experience of studying abraod is not a determinant but rather a highlight of candidates’ resume,” Zhang Qing, a former participant that studied in US for one semester during undergraduate, said. Now she is enrolled in Beijing Foreign Studies University. “After all, it is your overall competence and qualifications that open the door of employers for you.”